Midfielder Aimee Godfrey has returned to the SWPL side after spending an academic year in America.

Aimee had infact only been at Farmington for a comparatively short period of time before leaving for study at Montevallo University in Alabama, having joined the club from Rangers during the early stages of the 2011 season.

Having trained with the squad for the first time since her return last week, Aimee admitted that her American adventure had been as much about learning on the field as it was off it.

“I found the style of play in the states to be completely different compared to what I was used to over here” she explains. “There is an absolute focus on strength and fitness, compared with in Scotland where we tend to strike a balance between that and the technical side of the game. That took a little bit of getting used to, as did undertaking pre-season training in a somewhat humid 33 degrees!”

Besides being able to shame her team mates with a sun tan that most can only procure from a bottle, Aimee concedes that training in such an environment was advantageous to her development in multiple respects. “My fitness has improved greatly whilst I’ve been away, and I feel I’ve had to develop a bit as a person as well. I had to quickly adapt to a totally new culture, and to being far away from my friend and family.”

However in the current day of social networking, Aimee adds that she was able to keep tabs on what was going on back home football wise. “Twitter is a great invention!” she laughs. “I was always looking out for the Farmington scores, as spoke to a few of the girls now and again. I was also keeping tabs on how some of my former squad mates from Scotland U-19s were getting on with their qualification games; and obviously the results of any A-squad games as well.”

Returning fitter, wiser and undoubtedly browner, did seeking a completely fresh football challenge in Scotland ever cross Aimee’s mind? “It never even entered my mind” is the quick reply. “It was definitely sad to leave the girls behind in the States, but once I did I was really excited to be getting back into training with Farmington and hearing some of the girls’ latest banter!”

Prior to making her 2nd Farmington debut as a trialist against her former club on Sunday, Aimee admitted she was well aware of the challenge that lay ahead of her with Farmington 2nd time round. “My initial aim is of course to try and get myself back in the team, but I’ve seen already we have a great squad this year with girls who have really been doing well in recent games. I will have to work hard at training and try to put the additional experience I feel I know have intro practice which I hope will ultimately contribute to the team achieving the success we are all working towards.”