Alessia Russo: ”See you at the far post.”
Alessia Russo’s 2024/25 season reads like a football fairytale, WSL Golden Boot, Champions League glory with Arsenal, and sealing Euro 2025 for the Lionesses with a decisive strike. A Puskás-nominated backheel, a scorer’s instinct, and a trophy cabinet suddenly brimming. But at Life After Football, we’re just as interested in what happens outside the stadium lights, the people, passions, and moments that make Russo tick when the boots come off.
Family First
Alessia Russo’s life off the pitch begins, and is firmly anchored, with her family, as she shared in an interview with GQ. Her mum, Carol, is “definitely the most caring, affectionate, special person ever… she has instilled in me a lot of how I am as a person.” Her dad, Mario, a former police officer and non-league record goalscorer, is both mentor and motivator.
“No matter whether he’d been up at stupid o’clock, he’d always come home and drive me to training, three or four times a week, no complaints,” she recalls. “I used to have dinner in the car and do a lot of my homework on the M25.”
That bond remains unshakable. Before every game, Mario sends her the crest of the opposing team, a few tactical reminders, and an inspirational quote. And whenever they say goodbye, “Dad always says, ‘See you at the far post.’ It’s our little thing.”
Style & Self-Confidence
When Arsenal lifted the Champions League trophy this year, Russo shared a quiet, knowing smile with teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy, her college roommate during her time at the University of North Carolina, her London partner-in-crime, and the friend who’s been there through the highs and lows. That bond, forged in the US, is part of why her years at North Carolina were so formative.
Russo isn’t all training kits and matchday tracksuits. Those college days shaped not just her game but her sense of self. “They were definitely very self-aware and self-confident… it wasn’t arrogance, it was more like, I’ve worked hard and deserve this,” she says.
That confidence now plays into her style, relaxed, approachable, and understated, but always put-together. Whether at club events or in her downtime, Russo carries herself like someone who’s earned her moment, but hasn’t forgotten where she came from.
Keeping Girls in the Game
One of Russo’s biggest passions is ensuring the next generation has it better than hers. “I feel I have a responsibility to play well, to keep things moving for women’s football, to keep making things better for the next generation.”
She’s the reason a nine-year-old fan plays up front wearing the No. 23. When told, Russo promises to check if her dad has a spare Emily Fox sticker for the girl’s WSL album. It’s small gestures like this that show her influence extends well beyond her goals.
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