The Wales women’s football team had a motto throughout their successful European championship qualification campaign: #ForHer.

In scenes of pure joy on the night of Tuesday December 3rd, Catrin Heledd signed off from the BBC’s coverage declaring that this momentous occasion was ‘For Everybody.’

Throughout the qualification campaign, though, it felt at times that the motto should be changed to ‘For Jess’.

Fishlock: Wales’s Greatest

Jess Fishlock is undisputedly Wales’ greatest ever player. In April 2017, she became the first Welsh player – man or woman – to reach 100 caps for Wales and in April this year she won her 150th cap.

She was named Wales player of the year in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2019. During this qualification campaign, Fishlock is unsurprisingly Wales’s top scorer, and broke Helen Ward’s record of 45 goals to become Wales all-time top goal scorer.

At club level, Fishlock has been a mainstay at Seattle Reign since 2013, taking brief sojourns on loan at Melbourne Victory, Olympique Lyonnais, and Reading in the WSL.

Trophies have followed Fishlock throughout her whole career.

After leaving Britain to become the first foreign player in the Dutch Eredivisie, she won back-to-back league titles with AZ Alkmaar before returning to Bristol City for the advent of the Women’s Super League (WSL).

Bristol overachieved in their first season, reaching the FA Cup Final, only to lose 2-0 to powerhouse Arsenal. Fishlock won the club player of the year, fan’s player of the year, and was named in the league’s team of the season.

A Star In Australia and America

The midfielder’s performances caught the eye, and in 2012 she moved to Melbourne Victory. With only six games of the season remaining when Fishlock joined, one would expect her impact to be somewhat muted.

Fishlock helped the Victory reach their first ever grand final, scoring a 94th minute winner against reigning champions Canberra United. In just six games, the Welshwoman had played well enough to be nominated for the league’s player of the season award. The next season, with the help of Fishlock, the victory went one better, winning the Grand Final.

Again, Fishlock’s performances caught the eye across the world. The United States and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) came calling and she found a more permanent home in Seattle with the Reign.

Fishlock helped the Reign to the NWSL Shield – the award for the best overall season record – in 2014, 2015, and 2022, but fell short on all three occasions in the Championship final.

Her level of consistency in these years was extraordinary. Fishlock was named in the NWSL team of the season five times, winning the league’s MVP in 2021.

During the offseason, Fishlock would go on loan to European sides, with success often following her arrival.

After a spell at Glasgow City, Fishlock returned to Melbourne – first with the Victory and then with their cross-town rivals Melbourne City.

Champions League Glory

In 2015, she was part of the FFC Frankfurt squad that won the Champions League. Despite returning to the NWSL prior to the final win over Paris Saint-Germain, Fishlock was considered a huge part of the team’s journey to the title by players, staff, and fans and subsequently earned a UEFA Women’s Champions League medal.

Fishlock would get the chance to start in a Champions League final four years later, during a loan spell with European giants Olympique Lyon. Part of a formidable midfield trio with Amandine Henry and Dzsenifer Marozsan, Lyon dominated Barcelona, scoring four goals in the first half an hour, eventually winning 4-1.

That Fishlock was a part of a side widely considered to be the best Europe as ever seen in the women’s game is a testament to her talent as a footballer.

#ForJess

However, time is now against Fishlock.

After a remarkable 17 years in the red of Wales, the Seattle Reign midfielder turned 37 in January and much of the coverage of the squad this year has revolved around Fishlock’s comments suggesting that this qualification campaign would most likely be her last.

With a new manager – Rhian Wilkinson – and experienced members of the squad retiring, it looked as if Wales would be doing it #ForJess as they attempted to qualify for a first ever major tournament.

Speaking prior to the two legs against the Republic of Ireland, striker Ffion Morgan spoke of how she and the squad were hoping for some more ‘Jess moments.’

“That’s what Jess is, isn’t it? Her Jess moments!” Morgan said.

“She’s a superstar for us and she’s proven time and time again how important she is for Wales.

“Not just the years before I was here, she’s continuing to do amazing things for Welsh football, not just women’s football.

“So, yeah, hopefully she has those special moments again, which we know she can produce and that’s why she’s such a fantastic person to have in camp.”

Vital Cog in the machine

Perhaps the most famous ‘Jess moment’ in recent years was her stunning volley against Bosnia and Herzegovina during 2023 World Cup qualifying.

The joyful scenes at fulltime in Cardiff contrasted with those of devastation five days later, as Switzerland beat Wales thanks to a last-gasp goal, denying them a place at the World Cup.

Morgan had been a beneficiary of a ‘Jess moment’ herself, against Slovakia in the play-off semi-final. Having both been on the bench for the start of the match, Morgan and Fishlock came on with the score 2-0 to Slovakia and Wales in danger of crashing out.

Fishlock, who had not played since the last Wales camp due to injury, sparked her side into life, playing a glorious through-ball that found Morgan, who curled home. With the deficit halved, Wales went on to win 2-0 in Cardiff a few days later, with Fishlock, of course, scoring the opening goal.

‘The entire legacy of our nation is in this group of players’

It was a sign of the health of the current Wales squad that they did not actually have to rely on a ‘Jess moment’ in the play-off final against Ireland.

She did set up Wales’ opener in the first leg, but that goal had more to do with the quick feet of Ceri Holland and the endeavour of goal scorer Lily Woodham than it did Fishlock.

Fishlock played the full 90 minutes in Cardiff but was forced off with a hamstring injury on the hour mark in Dublin.

After Fishlock came off, Wales were able to play a more transitional game, relying on the pace of Morgan, Rachel Rowe, and Carrie Jones.

Just two minutes after Fishlock was replaced by Jones, the 21-year-old – who would have grown up idolising the legendary midfielder – scored Wales’s second, and ultimately winning, goal.

On the final whistle, Fishlock donned a Wales flag and iconic bucket hat, and struggled to some up her emotions.

“This has been something we have been working towards as a nation for 20 years,” she said.

“So, when it does happen, I can’t believe it. My emotions are all over the shop at the moment, but I could not be prouder of this group. I couldn’t even watch the final minutes; I had my hood over my eyes!

“What I love so much about this group is that we’ve got players who have been here for 20 years, and you’ve got players for whom this is their first six months.

“The entire legacy of our nation is in this group of players. How poetic that this is the group that gets us to the moment that we’ve been working towards for over twenty years.”

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