_Our Young Gun series gets to know the academy youngsters kicking off their careers at the Sobha Realty Training Centre._
_Bella Cowley spoke to us recently, and having spent her childhood on the move, Arsenal is where the young centre back wants to stay._
I come from a football-mad family. My dad (Colchester United manager Danny Cowley) started out as a professional footballer before becoming a coach, so ever since I was little I'd go to all his games. I had a taste for the game even then.
In fact, my first footballing memory was going to sessions my dad ran with his brother called Tiny Tekkers for three-year-olds. Literally as soon as I could walk, he was getting met to kick a ball.
Other kids always used to think that my dad's job was so cool because they wished their dads were footballers. But he's just dad to me.
I grew up playing football with my cousin Harry, who's now at Colchester United's academy. He's only two years younger than me, and we get on like brother and sister. His dad is my dad's assistant coach, so we've moved around the country together, we're a really close unit.
I started playing grassroots at the weekends for my local team, Baddow Spartak and also spent a year at the Essex Player Development Centre before dad got a job managing Lincoln. He was commuting for a year and then we all moved up with him to be together.
While we were up north I played for Boston Academy, Notts County and Lincoln United, with my dad coaching me along the way.
Moving around the country meant plenty of clubs and plenty of schools, and I went to six schools in total. People always used to feel bad for me, constantly being teh new girl, but I actually think it's helped me beccome the person I am today.
> "When Arsenal approached me, I just knew it was the perfect club for me. The girls were so nice and the coaches really suited the way I played. The rest is history."
My last stop before Arsenal was the Chelsea academy, where I was for two years. When Arsenal approached me, I just knew it was the perfect club for me. The girls were so nice and the coaches really suited the way I played. The rest is history.
We went on a pre-season tour in Canada about a week after I joined the club, which came at the perfect time. Going on camp is an amazing opportunity to bond and this was no different. Everyone was so welcoming and I got on with all the girls so well from the start.
Up until two years ago, I'd been a centre mid for my whole life and though that was where I was going to be forever. When I was first put in the centre half role, I was like, "Oh my goodness, I'm not going to like this!" I assumed I wasn't going to be on the ball as much as UI had been used to, but I quickly fell in love with it; it's a position that fits my game perfectly.
I'm a player who's always composed on the ball, often playing as a left-sided centre half. I'm naturally right-footed but since I was little, I've been working really hard on using both feet. I was always in the garden practicing with my left foot, so my aim is to be truly two-footed.
I've been playing with England youth teams for years, starting with the under-15s and going up to the under-17s. This season, it's my dream to be selected for the under-17s Euros next year.
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.