Olivia Smith, now 22, has become one of the standout figures in women's football after Arsenal signed her from Liverpool for a world-record £1m fee last year, just one season after Liverpool paid a club-record £210,000 to sign her. The Canadian forward's rapid rise – she made her international debut aged 15, became the first woman to score for Liverpool at Anfield in the WSL, and has now won the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year award for a second consecutive year – reflects both her precocious talent and the sacrifices made by her family to support her career.

Growing up in Whitby, Ontario, Smith was encouraged into football by her father and trained alongside boys until age 12, drawing on a multicultural heritage with Jamaican, Chilean and Peruvian roots. She has credited childhood taekwondo, taken up partly as a response to bullying, and gymnastics with building the discipline, agility and mental toughness that underpin her game today. Her father Sean has meticulously tracked her statistics since she was young, keeping a diary of her goals, while Smith left home at 15 to pursue her career, moving to Michigan alone without knowing her living arrangements in advance.