There is not the same intensity to club rivalries between women’s teams as there is between their men’s counterparts, but as the game grows that is changing. Increasingly, there is animosity from fans if a player leaves for a rival side.

Victoria Pelova’s move from Arsenal to Tottenham firmly bucks the trend, though. Despite arguably having her best years ahead of her, the 27-year-old departed with a lot of well-wishes and love.

“I was really scared to tell my old teammates that I was going here,” says Pelova. “My close friends knew about it, obviously, but everyone responded so well. Everyone tells me that it reflects on the person I am. So, I’m actually really glad about that.”

Pelova has been an Arsenal fan favourite despite limited minutes in her three years at the club, during which she was hampered by an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained on international duty in June 2024. Why is she so liked? She comes across as fun and is loved by her teammates, with a wicked and dry sense of humour.

Pelova was not worried what people would make of her move to Spurs, but the Netherlands midfielder did think about it. Ultimately, it was “an easy decision” to join Martin Ho’s squad.

“The way Martin approached me, what he said about how he sees me as a player, the videos he showed me and how he wants me to be, I’ve actually never had a coach talking like that about me,” she says. “So, for me, it was a good decision. I talked a lot with my mum about it and she immediately said yes. That was actually the most important thing for me, what my mum thought.”

At the start of June, Pelova shared online that her mum had died. A carousel of moving photos of the pair through the years was captioned: “Your biggest fear was leaving me behind. My biggest fear was losing you. Rest now, Mum.”

Pelova is not ready to talk about the loss, but it sits in the background of the interview. Not having to move home as a result of her leaving Arsenal was important. “It does really help me that I have friends and family around me that take care of me,” she says.

Reflecting on her spell at Arsenal, with her ACL injury coming at a time when it was believed she would start to get more playing time, she says: “There was a private situation going on, my mum was ill, and I didn’t get minutes. So, it was a really tough time and people didn’t know what I was going through.”

The goal now? “To be happy again, in football and outside football, and just day by day see how it goes.”

She clarifies: “It sounds like I have not been happy, but I have been happy in the last year and in being with my friends. But when you’re not playing as regularly as you want to it’s inevitable that you’re not going to be totally happy, and when I’m the happiest person, I will be the best footballer I can be.”

The fresh start at Tottenham has been rejuvenating. “It’s nice to have no one know you. For me, that’s the way to go. I don’t know if I can explain it, but I feel like when everyone knows you, they focus on the things they know.”

Ho made an instant impression on Pelova. “All the coaches I’ve met are always like: ‘Oh, you can play there and there and there.’ Martin was like: ‘You’re this for me.’ He knew exactly where he wanted me and what he wanted from me. That, right away, set the tone for me and it was where and how I see myself as well. What I’ve seen so far is that he’s so detailed. He just wants to make you better. He’s very strict, but he wants to make you a better player and that’s why I’m here.”

Ho has “a lot” of confidence in her, and that is hugely freeing. “That’s the part I don’t have to worry about … and I can focus on other things.”

Pelova’s experience of Tottenham had been playing against them, and the more difficult that got, the more it contributed to her decision to join.

““Defending was so hard,” she says of facing Spurs last season. “So, I already liked the style Martin had the team playing. I also already know Caitlin Dijkstra; I’ve known her for eight years and we lived together in Amsterdam so we know each other so well. She’s like my sister. I know Lize Kop, they’re also one of my closest friends. So, that has made the transition easy because I can always rely on them.

“I’m quite social so I’ve been trying to get to know everyone, the youngsters. It’s quite a hard job in the beginning, it’s intense, but I like it. On the pitch, you’re building relationships, pre-season is always heavy, you just need to grind, but it has been good.”

Pelova has belief in herself and her body too. “We train really hard,” she says. “That’s different to what I’m used to. So, obviously it goes up and down, but I’m confident that in a few weeks everything as a team will have progressed so much. Always with new players, it needs time. I’ve been in football a really long time so I know how it goes.”

Asked about Tottenham’s chances of disrupting things at the top, she flips the question, then says she relishes being outsiders. “You need to put us on as underdogs. The underdog position is the place to be,” she says.

Now, Pelova is ready for the intensity of pre-season to end and for the games to begin at home against West Ham on Sunday. One, in particular, stands out, and it comes on 25 October at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “Please, stop pre-season,” she says with a laugh. “I just want to start. I can’t wait to play against all the teams. I can’t wait to play against Arsenal.”