Rachel Rowe | There's something magic about playing in Swansea

Rachel Rowe admits she cannot contain her excitement at having the chance to play at the Swansea.com Stadium again, as the Wales midfielder prepares for Tuesday’s Nations League clash against Italy in SA1.

Rowe, 32, may ply her trade with Southampton, but she hails from Swansea and had two separate spells on the club’s books across academy and senior levels.

Across a career that has included spells with Reading, Rangers and Saints as a professional, plus 68 caps for her country, Rowe has always remained proud of her roots, and she is in line to be the only player from Swansea in the squad for this summer’s historic European Championship finals in Switzerland.

So the chance to play in her home city again, on the eve of the biggest summer of her career to date, means a tremendous amount to the winger.

"I am a Swansea girl at heart, through and through," said Rowe, who is currently in Denmark preparing for Wales' first game of this Nations League double-header.

"I hope I can help inspire people, if me coming from Swansea makes a difference for just one person I would feel fulfilled by that.

"There's something really magic for me about coming to play in Swansea.

"I am sure the girls are sick of me talking about it. Whenever we play at the stadium it's like the first time we've ever played there.

"I get so excited, I love Wales but Swansea has my heart and going home to play where it's five minutes from my house is so special. 

"It's incredible to think we have so many fans in Swansea coming to cheer on the Wales Women's team."

As a youngster Rowe initially played for a boys’ team, as there were few options for her when it came to girls’ teams in the area.

But she was spotted by a Swansea scout and joined the club’s then Ladies academy at the age of 12.

A stint with Cardiff followed, but she returned home and spent two further years in the Swans senior side before making the switch to Reading in 2015.

It may be a decade since she last played for Swansea City, but Rowe credits those formative years to be a crucial period in her development and her career as a whole.

"Between the ages of 12 and 16 I used to go to a weekly session with the Swans in Gorseinon," she recalls.

"I broke into the senior team, and other than a two-year spell I was with Swansea's senior team from the age of 16 to 23. It was a long time.

"It felt very cool to be playing for Swansea, it was the closest team to me and I was part of an exciting time where it was just getting better and better.

"I hold so much of my progression to my time at Swansea. I spent so much time learning with them, I loved it.

"It was more of a hobby at the time, and I had the chance to win the league and play in the Champions League.

"In the moment I don't think I appreciated how it set me up for what was next.

"I played age group football for Wales when I was there, that showed I was being nurtured by the club."

Swansea City’s Women’s team has come a very long way since those days. The team has been semi-professional for the last two seasons and been formally brought under the auspices of the club.

With four of the eight teams in the Welsh top-flight being semi-professional during the 2024-25 season, and the standard and level of competition in the division increasing all the time, Rowe hopes those positive developments can continue.

And she would love nothing more than a future where promising young players in Swansea do not feel the need to leave Wales to further their careers.

"It's amazing to see where it has got to now, and that is the step in development that women's football needs to take," said Rowe.

"That comes with investment from the clubs and I am excited to see what happens over the next five to 10 years.

"I hope the club can be a trailblazer, that would fill my soul if the club I spent so much time with as a youngster took a grip developing the women's game in Wales.

"I hope they can push forward and make it an amazing club for the men's and women's teams.

"There has to be a want to make that league better, and to make it sustainable and ensure that one day, if we have players who are talented enough, they do not have to leave.

"They can make the decision to leave the Welsh system, but they don't have to do it because there is no option there for them. I would love us to get to that place.

"It is never going to be short term, it will be long term, but if we could be there in 10, 15 or 20 years where top players can be developed in Wales and stay in Wales, that would be wonderful."

That, of course, is for the future. The immediate focus for Rowe and her teammates is the Nations League finale against Italy and then the historic first appearance at a major finals that follows in Switzerland.

Rowe was first capped by Wales in 2015, and she has seen some agonising near misses when it comes to trying to reach a major tournament.

But, after seeing off Slovakia and the Republic of Ireland in the play-offs, Rhian Wilkinson’s side will be among the continent’s elite when Euro 2025 gets under in early July.

And, after the emotion of sealing qualification in Dublin, Rowe’s sense of excitement is tangible as they get ready to face holders England, France and the Netherlands in the group stage.

"It seems insane that we are going to at that major tournament," she said.

"I think there have been so many moments of doubt over the years where I did not know if I would reach that footballing goal before my career came to an end.

"I knew if I could help Wales to get to this point I would feel such satisfaction, and feel so whole, in getting over that barrier of never making history, of never making a major tournament.

"Now we have done it, it feels completely surreal and I want to go to the Euros tomorrow!

"I cannot wait, that moment in Ireland I just fell to the floor. I could not catch my breath, it was that one moment that felt like something that has been just within reach but you've not been able to grab it.

"The waves of emotion just came out of us all, because it means so much to put our country on the map, to stand tall and be proud of where you are from by giving something back."

Tickets remain available for Wales' Nations League fixture against Italy at the Swansea.com Stadium on Tuesday, June 3 (6.30pm), and can be purchased below.