Lotte Wubben-Moy’s journey to becoming one of Arsenal’s standout defenders is nothing short of remarkable. From her grassroots beginnings at Stoke Newington School to winning the 2023/24 Arsenal Player of the Season award, the London-born footballer has consistently demonstrated her exceptional talent and resilience. A product of the Arsenal Academy, Lotte made her first-team debut at just fifteen years old, setting the stage for an impressive career that spans both domestic and international success. Her time in the United States with the North Carolina Tar Heels further honed her skills, giving her a unique perspective on the game that she has brought back to her childhood club. Calm in the tackle and creative on the ball, she has become a key figure in Arsenal’s defence, earning praise for shutting down some of the top strikers in the world.
But Lotte’s contributions go far beyond the pitch. A passionate advocate for the empowerment of young women and girls, in 2022 she founded Time to Explore, now Lots to Explore, a programme combining football and creative arts to inspire the next generation of girls. As a 2022 Euro Cup champion and strong community leader, Lotte embodies what it means to excel both as an athlete and a role model.
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| Zachari Gotmy | When did you realise that pursuing football at the highest level was your calling? |
| Lotte Wubben-Moy | I don’t think I was ever called upon to play football at the highest level; it’s something I sought out. I’ve always been intentional with how I apply myself. Even from a young age, I focused on the details, practicing my touch for hours on end. Being a footballer wasn’t a common dream for a young girl. Even in my naivety I was working towards a dream I couldn’t necessarily see clearly. A pivotal point was when, aged seventeen, I went to America and realised everything I’d been doing was working towards the pursuit of becoming a professional footballer. |
| ZG | How did your time at the University of North Carolina shape you both as a player and as a person? |
| LW | Never before had I had a life so balanced. I was studying, I had a social life, I was training and competing at the highest level of college football. We had a wonderful coach, Anson Dorrance, who placed a big focus on character development as well as player development. We had a book club; we read the work of philosophers, and amazing fiction. Then we’d go out on the pitch and be aggressive, win one-on-ones. It was a beautiful balance between developing as a player and a person. It’s an experience that has given me the courage to face any change or challenge, of which there are many in football, and that come in so many different forms. |
| ZG | The Lots to Explore programme is an inspiring initiative. What motivated you to combine football and creative arts for young girls in the local community? |
| LW | The combination of football and creative arts comes from me growing up with parents who knew nothing really about football but who knew everything about expressing yourself and being free. I was able to align those things very nicely with football, which I was passionate about. I’d run off to the cage as a kid and play football with the local boys. And what I want to combine at Lots to Explore is that freedom to explore things you might not otherwise have access or exposure to, from song-writing and recording to pottery painting, sewing, special effects makeup, illustration, and every kind of creative curiosity. Everyone has so much respect for the Arsenal badge—so much so that you want to do what you can to be around it. |
| ZG | You’ve achieved so much already in your career. Which accomplishment are you most proud of, and what makes it so special? |
| LW | You’d probably expect it to be the momentous Euros win, and in many ways it is that. But it’s also everything that came after that; things I’ve been able to amplify because of it—including our letter to the Prime Minister to provide a minimum of two hours of Physical Education in schools each week. Football is a mirror of society and that letter and what the subsequent government provision did and stood for actually opened up a lot of doors to women and girls in many different parts of society, and continues to do so. |
| ZG | Growing up, who were your biggest inspirations in football or beyond, and how did they influence your journey? |
| LW | I didn’t watch too much football as a kid. Whenever I went to watch Arsenal with my aunty, I just wanted to play. I’d be itching in my seat watching these men run around on a pitch that I wanted to be on. I did watch Johan Kruyff clips endlessly though. His freedom, his creativity and, as I grew older, his philosophies around attack being the best form of defence and total football. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I was buying into a football ideology that is still the gold standard of football now. |
| ZG | You’ve been praised for your leadership at Arsenal, especially during challenging times. What do you think makes a great leader on and off the pitch? |
| LW | You can’t relate to someone who is artificial. A good leader has to be genuine and themselves. Particularly on the pitch, if you’re using extra energy doing things that don’t come naturally, you won’t be able to perform to the best of your ability. Likewise, off the pitch, if you’re trying to live a life that isn’t true to you, it can be really hard to execute the tasks ahead of you and to bring people with you. |
| ZG | Defending against top strikers like Sam Kerr and Khadija Shaw is no easy task. How do you prepare mentally and tactically for those kinds of challenges? |
| LW | My preparation for games is pretty intense. I like to watch a lot of clips and play out scenarios using visualisation. I do a lot of yoga, and while I have a very strong understanding of the nuances and styles of the strikers I face, something like yoga gives me clarity and self-belief to be brave on the ball. Going back to Johann Kruyff and attack being the best form of defence, if I’ve got the ball, Khadija Shaw can’t score. |
| ZG | You appear to balance your role as a professional athlete with your community work well. How do you manage your time and stay grounded in both areas? |
| LW | The two are so closely linked that it’s not really conscious. Because of the people I have around me, I don’t really have to keep myself in check as they do it for me. I’m always around my family and best friends in Hackney—that allows me the most blissful switch off when I come home from football and to focus on what else really matters. |
| ZG | As someone who has grown up supporting Arsenal and now plays for the club, how does it feel to represent the team you’ve admired since childhood? |
| LW | This gets asked of me so much and I find it hard to put it into words—it’s such a strong feeling that I have within me. The best understanding of it is through my expression on the pitch, my work in the community, and how I present myself. I devote all of myself to the club as a professional footballer and I can give that extra few percent that maybe other players can’t because they haven’t grown up with Arsenal in their blood. |
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