From England to Lawrence to England, Liverpool’s Ceri Holland honed skills as a Jayhawk

Tracking the ball across the face of the goal, Ceri Holland held her run at the edge of the box. Run too soon and she’d easily be marked a defender. Too late and she wouldn’t be in position to get a foot on the ball.

As the ball bobbled to the far side of the box and was whipped back in by a Liverpool FC Women’s teammate, Holland timed her run perfectly: She got a foot on the ball and squeezed it into the bottom-right corner.

The 23-year-old bounced off the snow-covered ground — she’d slid down in celebration with her teammates. But for the first time in four years, Holland wasn’t celebrating in a crimson-and-blue Kansas Jayhawks jersey.

That 89th-minute goal completed Holland’s perfect introduction to professional soccer. She’d signed with Liverpool in late January after four seasons at KU.

“It was a bit of a dream come true to score on my debut,” she said of the late-match goal that put Liverpool ahead 2-1 against Charlton Athletic (the game ended in a 2-2 tie).

Holland is the first KU soccer player to go pro since Addisyn Merrick and Katie McClure were selected in the National Women’s Soccer League’s 2020 draft. But unlike her two former teammates, Holland’s path was a little different: she went undrafted.

Undaunted after not being one of the 40 players selected by NWSL teams last year, Holland signed with Liverpool in the FA Women’s Super League 2 — England’s second division for women’s soccer.

“When the Liverpool opportunity came up, it was one that I couldn’t really turn down,” she said.

Holland’s ascension shouldn’t come as a surprise. She’s shown potential for years.

Mark Francis was the first person from KU to see Holland play in person. The Jayhawks coach traveled to England several years ago to scout her out. She’d just finished high school and was taking a gap year to decide her next step.

She was playing for the Manchester City reserve team at the time and occasionally training with the club’s first team.

“You could just tell she has a ton of potential, and obviously we knew that going into it,” Francis said. “And then it was just a matter of trying to get that full potential out of her. Definitely saw that from right off the bat.”

Francis persuaded Holland to come to Lawrence on an official visit. But making the leap to the U.S. would mean leaving behind in England a youth career that included stints with historic Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City.

Yet make the leap she did.

“I don’t regret it at all,” she said. “It’s probably the best decision of my life. I also spoke to quite a few girls who went to America who had been through the UK system here, and they just said the experience is something that will really help you.”

Holland started all 75 games in her KU career — one of just 14 Jayhawks to ever do so — scoring 12 goals and assisting on 11 from her holding midfielder role.

Her four seasons here helped her develop into the type of player who could return to England and play professionally.

When she arrived in Kansas, Holland was a defensive-minded midfielder. Even today she sometimes struggles to track out of the midfield. But playing at KU helped her adjust to a faster pace and push further up the field.

“The game’s just a lot faster,” Francis said. “The pace of the game (in America) is consistently at a really, really high tempo.”

International players sometimes struggle making the switch from the slower buildup and tactical style more commonly played abroad.

“I do think you have to consistently be able to play out of tight situations and tight pressure, and especially for Ceri playing as a center mid,” the coach said. “In terms of solving pressure consistently in tight spaces, I think she got really, really good at that.”

Speeding up her play was one thing. But she also worked to improve her athleticism.

“I became a much more well-rounded athlete from being in America,” Holland said. “So it’s kind of put me in really good stead now because I’ve come back with that athleticism, as well, into a more technical environment again.”

Perhaps most importantly, Francis’ style of play at KU helped Holland fit Liverpool’s. Despite arriving in America as such a defensive-minded player, she debuted for Liverpool as an attacking midfielder.

If not for the work she put in at KU, Holland’s integration at Liverpool might’ve been a challenge.

“I felt like I’ve gotten a lot quicker with the ball, and I also developed my attacking side of the game in America,” she said. “I think that’s something that I’ve kind of brought home.”