by Alyce Collett (30/9/26)
Above: Isabel Gomez (third from left) and Bryleeh Henry (second from right) have both settled in well to their new life at FC Rosengård. Photo: Urszula Striner.
Isabel Gomez and Bryleeh Henry were among a wave of players who left the A-League Women’s competition after the most recent season, with the pair both moving to FC Rosengård in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan competition.
This the first time either of them have played their football outside of Australia, and the move has certainly come with its fair share of curveballs.
“I think the first couple weeks were a bit hectic getting used to everything, but I think I’ve been pretty lucky with, the club and stuff, the girls, the coaches, everyone’s been really nice, so we’re really enjoying it. It’s very peaceful here” Henry said.
“Personally for me, I think one of the hardest things has been just sort of to settle in” Gomez explained.
“Moving from home to Sweden has been challenging in that sense. You’re trying to buy things for your apartment, trying to get all that all sorted and then training, and it kind of gets hectic the first few weeks. But other than that, it’s been quite smooth.”
Henry also explained a uniquely Swedish custom that the girls have had to get used to that very much affects their day to day lives.
“This is a bit not soccer related, but the apartments when you move in here don’t have any lights” Henry explained.
“So you have to get lights yourself. Like in Australia you don’t have like a fridge or something, but here they have no lights, so it’s pitch black until you put lights in the roof or get lamps.”
A challenge of almost any move overseas is learning a new language, but thanks to the helpfulness of new team mates that process has been made easier for Gomez and Henry.
“Learning a new language has been really difficult, but it’s great everyone knows English here, so we haven’t really had to force ourselves” Gomez said.
“But we have actually been taking Swedish classes. One of the girls has been our teacher and we take our own classes, which has been pretty cool. Once a week we’ve been doing that, … so we’re trying to focus on a couple words each day, and then go off from that.”
The pair’s move also serves as a reuniting of old team mates, with Gomez and Henry having both played together at the Football NSW Institute when they were teenagers.
“That feels like a whole lifetime ago now” Henry said with a laugh.
“But everyone actually asked us when we came here ‘had we played together before?’ and we’ tell them ‘Yeah, when we were like…’ I don’t know how old we were then, maybe 14.
“It kind of feels like a full circle moment. It’s kind of crazy that we played together there, which was such a big part of our lives too and a big start in our career, and then now to be here and our first both kind of moves overseas. It’s nice, and I think it’s nice to have someone in the same position.”
Henry and Gomez are not the only Aussies at Rosengard, with Remy Siemsen now well established at the club. Henry and Gomez spoke glowingly of their countrywoman and how helpful she has been to them while they have been settling into the team.
“It’s nice to see familiar faces when you’re at a new club, and she’s kind of given us all the insights of what to do with our bank account and phone number. That can be a hassle, but she’s been helpful” Gomez said.
“She’s done it all before, so we’re just following through her footsteps.”
Their moves overseas were a long time in the making for both Gomez and Henry, with both of them citing similar reasons as to why they chose to make the move overseas and away from the A League Women’s.
“Personally, I’d played in the A League for quite a few years, and I think growing up my kind of dream and a goal of mine was to always experience playing overseas” Henry explained.
“It’s always said that the leagues are a bit stronger, and there’s been big players who’ve played in the Swedish League or English League. So that’s kind of been a dream of mine, and I think I was quite comfortable in the A League. I mean, I love it there, but it’s been a new challenge and just to sort of try something new and get out of my comfort zone and see if I can play in a different league and a harder league with new people and a new team.”
Gomez agreed that her reasoning was similar, saying that “I’ve been in the A League for years now, and I’ve kind of achieved everything I kind of wanted to in the A League, and I just wanted something new, another challenge, and yeah, that next step was overseas.
“But how it looked was Sweden wasn’t the only option. I had a couple options overseas, but Rosengard was one that really stood out to me. Somewhere I thought that I could, start and get some minutes and really show myself overseas.”
“I think mine was the same. I had a couple options as well, and then obviously returning back to City was always there as well” Henry added.
“But Rosengard has such a rich history of big players playing here and winning as well, which is something we both obviously want to do, and Remy being here and playing minutes, and there’s been Aussies in the Swedish League. It’s obviously not just about going overseas, but playing minutes, which is important at this stage in our career now.”
Both players have noticed similar differences between the style of play in the Damallsvenskan compared to back home in the A-League Women’s.
“Personally I’ve found it more physically demanding here” Gomez said.
“Everyone’s a lot stronger. The play is a lot quicker so you got to be switched on the whole 90 minutes, whereas you can kind of get caught out in A-League at moments, but here it’s you got to be switched on 90 minutes of the game.”
“I think our first game was not so much a shock, or maybe that is the right word, but it’s people are coming in, you don’t have the same time you had in A-League” Henry explained.
“The game is faster, if you lose the ball the team’s going straight at you, so it’s quicker. You have got to think quicker on your feet and I think it was a shock the first game to kind of be ‘okay, this is the level.’”
Neither Henry nor Gomez have had consistent runs in the national team set up, but both agree that they are hoping that this move overseas will change that for them.
“I think that’s the goal” Henry said.
“We both obviously want to be in the Matildas. Our dream is to play for the Matildas and play consistently.
“I think maybe our focus right now is just to get consistent minutes with the club. It’s obviously a better league, there’s really good players here. It’s a good club. We want to do well as a team, better than we’re doing now, and hopefully if we can show that we can play here in a league that’s maybe a bit tougher than what we were playing in, hopefully Matildas call-ups can come from that. But then it’s about us both personally being consistent to earn those call-ups consistently.”
If the ultimate goal that both players have set out for the rest of 2026 comes true, there’s hope that Aussie fans will see them both more regularly pulling on the green and gold for their country.
“Personally I want to get consistent minutes here at Rosengard [and] help the team as much as I can” Gomez said.
“Then international, get called up as much as I can, showcase myself there and just be available whenever I can.”
“I think mine’s pretty similar to Iz” Henry agreed.
“We’re at a new club, we’ve come midway through the season, so earning our spot and minutes here in a team that is full of really good players is the main focus right now.
“Then hopefully if anything comes of that national team-wise – which is obviously the next goal – it’s what we both want.”
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