Last summer, she became a professional footballer when she signed a contract with AS Roma. This summer, she took her career to the next level by signing up with one of the biggest football clubs in the UK, Liverpool F.C.

Besides being a professional footballer, she’s also on her way to becoming Master of Science (MSc) in Business Administration and Organizational Communication at CBS. And since football is no longer her leisure activity, plenty of structure and willpower are required to make it into the major leagues in both business and on the field.

Football is the greatest thing in the whole word

Before signing her first foreign contract last summer, Amalie Thestrup had a study job as Marketing & Communications Assistant at IBM while playing football for the local club Ballerup-Skovlunde on the side.

But after joining AS Roma, her hobby became her livelihood – and moving to the Italian capital to play professional football made a huge impression on her.

“It was great playing at the highest level with and against some of the best players in the world,” Amalie Thestrup says and continues:

“At the same time, it was pretty wild suddenly being able to live off my biggest hobby. Women’s football is much more widespread abroad than in Denmark, and significantly more attention is focused on us as players: there are more spectators at the matches and the fans are very impassioned.”

Although she had a great experience in Italy, she left the capital after just one season with AS Roma after being offered a contract by Liverpool F.C. this summer.

At the moment, she is still settling in, but is very satisfied with her new surroundings and life as a team member with the most winning football clubs of all time.

“I live in an apartment with an ocean view, so what’s not to like?” she says and goes on:

“But jokes aside, even though it’s a great experience and privilege having a contract with a major club like Liverpool, it is the result of all the hard work and personal goals I have managed to fulfil along the way. Ever since I was little, this has been a step-by-step process, so it feels very natural for me to be playing for Liverpool F.C. at this point in my journey.

”Not only is it a natural result of her hard work that she now plays for a prominent English football club. It also seems like a natural consequence of her great passion for the sport.

“To me, football is the greatest thing in the whole word. Ever since I was a little girl, it has been the most amusing activity I can imagine,” says Amalie Thestrup and adds:

“However, since I became a professional player, my passion has changed character a bit. At Liverpool F.C., I work together with people from different countries, backgrounds and cultures. But despite our differences, we all fight for the same goal: to become the strongest team possible and win all our matches. And the experiences we get on our way to achieving this goal give an incredible, indescribable feeling.”

I want to do my best and be the best

Amalie Thestrup is a realist by nature and is aware that when her time as a football player is over, she cannot just kick the ball aside and enjoy her retirement. There is simply not enough money in playing women’s football for that.

Therefore, it was a reasonable choice for her to study beside her sport to give her something to fall back on when she hangs up her boots.

And according to Amalie Thestrup, her studies and her sport share a lot in common.

“When it comes to teamwork, work effort and working under pressure are common denominators for both practicing sports and studying. And I think that many of the personal qualities that I’ve required through football have been adaptable and useful during my studies,” she says and continues:

“Moreover, I’m very competitive. Therefore, I want to do my best and be the best no matter if it’s on the football field or on campus. With that mindset, I’ve experienced that every step forward, say a good grade, becomes a victory.”

In order to take care of both her professional football career and her studies, Amalie Thestrup has been allowed to extend her master’s degree to three years by taking only 15 ECTS-points per semester.

At this point, she’s just over halfway towards achieving her degree certificate. However, she has yet to decide what to do with her education, though she knows the direction of her career path.

“It would make a lot of sense and be great if I could combine my education and knowledge about communication, business and marketing with some of the things I’ve learned from the world of sport,” she says.

“I want to do my best and be the best no matter if it’s on the football field or on campus,” says Amalie Thestrup. (Photo: Liverpool F.C.)

And as she always sets up new goals as soon as she has achieved one, she also has a clear idea of her next goal in life.

“My goal right now is to have a great start in Liverpool and hopefully make a change. During the COVID-19 crisis, we’ve been moved to a lower league, so now we must fight back up to the best league in England,” she says.

“And a longer-term goal I have personally is to become a permanent player on the Danish National Team. That would be my biggest dream ever come true. I’ve played on the team a couple of times, but it would be amazing to play in the European Championships,” she says, aiming high as always, with confidence and a smile.