Summer arrival Freda Ayisi reflects on the Addicks' opening fixtures as well as her rise across various social channels for her footballing tricks.
Ayisi was amongst the thirteen new arrivals for Karen Hills’ side this summer. After impressing with fellow Barclays Women's Championship side Lewes during the 2021/22 campaign, Ayisi put pen-to-paper on a one-year deal with the Addicks.
“I’m enjoying it, I get on with all the girls and we are doing well in training. We have started ok but we must stay consistent."
The Addicks have kicked off their 2022/23 campaign with a win and a loss to their name. Following an open day victory away to Southampton at the St. Mary’s Stadium, the Addicks were defeated on derby day as London City Lionesses claimed the three points at the Oakwood.
The skilful midfielder has played for several clubs across the country including Birmingham City, London City Lionesses, Leicester City and Arsenal. Freda was asked about her time with those clubs.
“I’ve enjoyed every single one of those teams, meeting new people and playing different sorts of games. The managers, finding out how each manager manages different players and their coaching, has been good.
Ayisi has gained quite the following off the field, with 177,000 Instagram followers to her name and 233,000 TikTok followers. Her content consists of football challenges and freestyle videos, a number of her videos going viral across various platforms of social media.
She said, “I have always done tricks and little flicks here and there just growing up and watching Ronaldinho. It kind of blossomed in lockdown, I was bored and I started making videos, everybody enjoyed it and I enjoyed doing it so I continued to make videos.
“When it came to the tricks and tight ball control Ronaldinho was the guy for me, I always used to watch him on youtube when I was younger. As I said, I have always done the tricks since a young age and at the moment I am posting them, it is quite normal to me.
Freda’s first TikTok video was uploaded in March 2020 and she has gone on to receive 3.5 million likes across her TikTok page. Her most viewed video was published in June after she collaborated with the Brazilian Legend Roberto Carlos, the video reached 7.2 million views on TikTok alone.
“With the TikTok situation, again lockdown was the first time I heard about TikTok and I just couldn’t stop scrolling. It was kind of an addiction at one point which is a bit mad. For the videos I just went out to the park with my friends, we were messing about and I caught it on camera and I posted it on Instagram.
The midfielder spoke to South London Press earlier this week.
“I think maybe my fifth video blew up on all social platforms, Twitter, Instagram and then it went on from there. The video was of me controlling the ball from a block, Ian Wright replied to it and it blew up from there.
“Ian Wright is a legend, a few comments from people on my Instagram and Pogba shared my video. I can’t think right now but I have had a few famous people share my content, it has been cool.
“I feel the stuff I do isn’t too ‘freestyle’, it is something that everybody can kind of do. There are some videos where it is a bit crazy but other than that most of the videos are things that other people can do. It is relatable.
Ayisi also looked ahead to the Addicks' next fixture as they host Birmingham City at The Valley on Sunday. The Blues currently sit in third, just one point above Charlton following an impressive, dominant victory over Sunderland as they defeated the Northern Eastern side 4-0.
Freda is relishing the opportunity to take on her former side in SE7.
“I like playing against my old clubs, I am ready, the team is ready. Hopefully, we can get a result.
Charlton vs Birmingham City will take place at the Valley on Sunday, September18th KO 2PM click here for tickets
