Chelsea Women’s longest-serving player, Drew Spence, is the latest player to commit to the club by signing a two-year contract extension to keep her at the club until 2022.
Midfielder Spence, who celebrated a decade at the club last year, has become a key member of Emma Hayes’ side over the years, making a significant contribution to all of our trophy success.During her time as a Blue, the 27-year-old has made 198 Chelsea appearances and been involved in both of our double-winning seasons in 2015 and 2018, our 2017 Spring Series triumph and our recent Continental League Cup victory last month.Upon signing her contract extension, Spence said: ‘I’ve been here for so long and so I’m obviously happy to extend my contract at this club.‘We have already won the Continental Cup this year, and hopefully we can go on to win the treble so I’m really excited for the next two years ahead.‘I’ve been here since the very beginning, since Emma [Hayes], Paul [Green] and everyone came in and I think the goal has always been to be the best team in Europe and we are nearly there.‘We were very close last season to getting to that stage so I’m looking forward to the next year, hopefully we can get back into Champions League and prove to everyone that is what we are.’Having been at the club since the age of 16, Spence is one of Hayes’ most trusted players and possesses a fantastic range of passing and is equally classy when finishing in front of goal.
Hayes, who has managed Spence since 2015, added: ‘Drew has been an integral part of the squad since I have been here. She has become one of the leaders and does everything possible to keep improving herself and her level of professionalism has increased so much.‘Her value to Chelsea is so significant that retaining her is more important than a new signing because she underpins all the values of the club. She gets it, she understands it and she leads by example.‘Drew knows we have a competitive squad and she understands her role within that and she will continue to improve because she understands the levels required at Chelsea. Drew is committed to contributing to further success and we expect her to play a massive role in us achieving that.’Spence and her team-mates are back in action on Sunday following the international break when they travel to Everton for the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. A week later Chelsea will face the Merseyside club once again at our home Kingsmeadow on Sunday 22 March in the Women's Super League.