You might assume the Wales keeper spends every minute of her time focusing on football.
Laura O’Sullivan works full-time and plays at her football club for an amateur team, Cardiff City Ladies, where players paid substitutes until last season.
Should Cardiff upset the odds by winning the Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie at Burnley this Sunday (1400 GMT), the talk in the dressing room is that some of the prize money will be spent on new coats. club brand winter jacket. .
As it stands, O’Sullivan and company don’t.
There’s nothing to complain about – that’s how it is when you play in Division One South West, the fourth tier of the English women’s football pyramid.
Cardiff City Ladies, not to be confused with Cardiff City Women, the team associated with the Men’s Championship club, train two evenings a week.
As well as club training, O’Sullivan works out at the gym and has a weekly session with a Football Association of Wales (FAW) goalkeeping coach, meaning she only has one day without football per week.
O’Sullivan, who has 58 caps for Wales, may not be a full-time footballer, but she is fully dedicated to her sport.
Football fits into O’Sullivan’s ‘rewarding’ day job, at a Cardiff training provider who helps apprentices in Care Lands.
“There are a lot of nights out,” O’Sullivan told BBC Sport Wales.
“I work from nine to five. I spend all my evenings working [on football]. It’s a lot of commitment, but football is not a lifetime affair.
“You just put in the hours, it depends how much you want it. For me, playing here [at Cardiff]to play at international level, you just have to grab it all.”
O’Sullivan spent much of his career at Cardiff. She started with the Dragons before a stint with Yeovil Town, then a top-flight side, in 2017, the year she was named Wales Footballer of the Year.
But his time with the Somerset club was brief, with O’Sullivan joining Cyncoed Ladies before returning for a second spell at Cardiff.
The club are on the rise at the moment, having lost just once in the league this season following last year’s shock relegation from the National League Southern Premier Division.
The immediate target for Jamie Phillip’s side is a return to the third tier, but O’Sullivan says Cardiff have higher ambitions.
“You want to reach the highest levels – you want to get into the WSL (Women’s Super League) – so that’s a starting point,” she says.
“The promotion takes us to level three and we can go from there, but we have to work hard.”
To some extent the pressure has eased as Cardiff focus on the FA Cup this weekend.
After going through four rounds to get this far, Cardiff missed out on a plum tie against top-flight opposition, and instead traveled to face a Burnley side who are doing well in the Northern Premier Division – the third tier of the English game. .
“You could say [we are underdogs], but I think the football is there,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ll play them and they’ll play us. It depends on who wants it more.”
O’Sullivan will soon turn his attention to Wales – and furloughs – with the Pinatar Cup coming to Spain next month.
Gemma Grainger’s side may still be licking their wounds after losing their World Cup play-off final to a late Swiss goal last October, but O’Sullivan sees grounds for optimism as Wales head to the Nations League and, further down the line, Euro Qualifiers 2025.
“We watch every game, we have to take it game by game, but [reaching Euro 2025] is the goal,” she says.
“We’ve just come through the play-offs. That’s history in itself – nobody’s ever done it in women’s football in Wales. It’s great to have the opportunity to go even further. “
Sincerely, O’Sullivan Grainger’s new contract is a positive step for Wales, and calls the news that the nation’s male and female players will be paid the same to represent their country “a positive step in the right direction”.
“Welsh football has grown steadily,” she said.
“The men have arrived at the World Cup. It’s a big step. To have the women’s game on an equal level with the salary is another big step.
“I hope that then feeds our clubs. The level [women’s football] growing up, you just hope he stays level and everyone sees an opportunity to play football as a job.
“If I was younger, that’s the opportunity you’re looking for. You strive to play every day of your life.”
To her credit, O’Sullivan does just that, even though she hasn’t given up her day job.
