The start of any football season brings excitement and anticipation. But for Mia Ross, there is extra reason to be hyped for the beginning of Charlton Athletic’s Women’s Super League 2 campaign on Sunday.
The 22-year-old midfielder is set for her first competitive action in more than a year after suffering a ruptured ACL in September 2024.
Ross was only playing in the Professional Game Academy fixture against Arsenal to boost match sharpness while serving a three-game ban after pleading guilty to violent conduct in a 1-0 win over Sunderland in April 2024. Then disaster struck.
Picture: Charlton Athletic Women FC
“I’ve not played a proper game in over a year - like a really, really competitive one,” Ross told South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition. “Pre-season is great, but you want there to be points or promotion and relegation to be involved.
“The game against Arsenal was just meant to be a match to get me going so that it wasn’t a shock if I was going to play minutes again. I got this intuition that it was serious. You can only really describe it if it has happened to you. A lot of people who have had ACL injuries say: ‘You just know you have done it’.
“My first thought was ‘oh no, it’s my knee’. Especially in the women’s game now - those injuries are really increasing rapidly. We are three or four times more likely to do it than male players. It’s crazy to get your head around.
“I actually did a lot of research. I was doing a uni assignment on it. I actually did my dissertation on ACLs and then I’ve gone and done it - that was a bit unlucky!
