Longevity is a rarity in football, especially for an outfield player. But at the age of 38, Jess Fishlock is still playing at a high level for her club, Seattle Reign, and Wales Women.

And despite her years of experience, this summer marks the first time the midfielder – and Wales – will play in a major international tournament. They have qualified for Euro 2025, marking a new milestone in Fishlock’s career.

The tournament in Switzerland will mark the culmination of a nearly 20-year journey. Since making her debut in 2006, Fishlock has amassed has the most caps (158) and goals (46) for Wales.

“My journey’s been longer than some of the kids’ ages in Wales’ [squad] – there’s 17-year-olds, and I’m like, ‘I’ve been playing longer than you’ve existed!'” she joked with Sky Sports’ Pitch to Pod podcast earlier this year.

“It was about timing. I don’t believe in fate and all that, but honestly, maybe I kind of do now, because everything came together at the right time and at the right spot.”

This summer could be the final chance to see Fishlock in a Wales jersey – more on that to come – but just how has she kept herself in peak physical and mental condition for so long?

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News’ Geraint Hughes, she explained: “Over the last few years, it has really been about dialling in to another level. The truth is I’m very fortunate and blessed that my mother and father have given me great genes athletically.

“Over the years, I’ve known that if my body can’t do what my mind wants to do, it’s time. I’m not going to be someone that tries to continue when I can’t do what I want to do on the field.

“The last three or four years, I’ve really taken time to understand more about rest, recovery, load, what my body needs to be prepared, what it needs to be fresh as opposed to an overload of training.

“When you get older, you really have to get that balance right. I’ve put in a lot of effort to get that. I’m very proud of it.”

‘There’s nothing like Wales’

Playing for Wales has long been a source of pride and importance for Fishlock. The Seattle Reign midfielder has now achieved her aim of taking her team to a major tournament, and speaks passionately about representing her country.

“For the last couple of years specifically, there’s the love and enjoyment of the game and nothing quite gives me that feeling as being out on the field,” she said.

“But I never wanted to really walk away without achieving this with my country. It has really been the motivation for the last few years, so being able to still be around for it is truly the biggest gift I could ever have had.

“Our nation is just different. We’re so small and a lot of people view that as a negative, whereas I view it as such a positive.

“When you’re from a small nation, you have to care differently. I don’t think you can explain Welsh passion to anybody. It’s in our blood, our DNA. Our nation is so passionate and supportive of any Welsh success. That really does set us apart from other nations.

“I miss Wales all the time. I always say to my wife, ‘I need to get home for a couple of days’. I just need to feel it. There’s nothing like Wales. We’re just different people, we really are.”

‘I really wanted to get to a major tournament with Wales for such a long time’

It was a long road for Wales to reach Euro 2025. They went through the play-offs to secure their place, beating Slovakia in the semi-finals, before facing the Republic of Ireland.

After a 1-1 draw in the play-off final first leg against Ireland in Cardiff – attended by 16,845 fans, a new record for Wales’ women’s team – they were 2-1 winners in the away leg thanks to goals from Hannah Cain and Carrie Jones.

It came two years after Wales suffered their own play-off final heartbreak in their attempt to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, beaten in the 121st minute by Switzerland.

Reflecting on that momentous day in Dublin, Fishlock said: “It’s really hard to put it into words. I’ve wanted and worked for it for so long, my whole career basically, with so many close calls.

“I had this conversation with the sports psychologist that the feeling that I expected myself to have and the feeling I had were very different.

“I expected to have this immense joy and pride, but it was initially relief. Finally, after all this time, all the setbacks and failures that we’ve had in the past…

“The relief of being able to do what I’ve always wanted to do with my country and still being here and being able to participate was the overriding feeling. Once I felt that, I could go into joy and celebration because I really wanted to get to a major tournament with Wales for such a long time.

“I don’t have much longer so this was the last hurrah. I just couldn’t believe the timing of it, it was poetic.”

Former Canada international Rhian Wilkinson has been Wales manager since February 2024, and Fishlock has credited her with helping the Dragons qualify for their first major tournament.

“Rhian is great for us,” the 38-year-old said. “She is very different, very Canadian and she was exactly what we needed to finally get over the line. She carries herself in a different way to how we’ve always worked.

“Sometimes you get someone in, and they work just like you. You think, ‘this is great’ and everyone is comfortable, and sometimes that’s really nice – but you end up also kind of lacking a little bit in something.

“But Rhian really bridges the gap between it being nice and also not being nice. She works in a way that you really want to delve in and buy into it.

“At the beginning, she said that we’re going to do this and slowly but surely, everyone was like, ‘ok, this is what we’re doing’ so by the time the playoffs came, everyone was tight knit, believing in what we’re doing and giving everything for the cause.

“In the Ireland game, you could see there was a vast difference between where we were, how together we were, what we were, what we were doing, how we were going to get to where we wanted to get to, which ultimately got us over the line.”

Could Fishlock retire after the Euros?

Of course, the question on any Wales fan’s mind is what Fishlock might decide to do after the Euros. She has mentioned her “last hurrah”, but the midfielder has yet to make a choice on her international future.

“I haven’t made any decisions because I want to enjoy what I’m doing right now,” she added. “I enjoy playing for Reign, I love playing for Wales and I don’t want to distract any of that by forward thinking too much.

“I’m not worried about my body, it’s still doing its thing. I’m doing what I can to help this team and hopefully we’ll be able to go and enjoy the Euros, compete and try and get out of that group, then we’ll see.

“Ultimately, what is difficult is the game is unforgiving. Playing for club and country is very hard, you can see so many people these days retire really early from internationals because it’s so exhausting.

“I’m going to have to wait and see what my body and mind are telling me after the summer, but I’m not focused on forcing that right now.

“But I feel like I’ll take a little time away from the game initially [after retirement]. When you’ve been doing it for so long, you almost don’t want to think about it.

“When I eventually hang up my boots, I know that I’m not going to want to think about football for a while, but I do think I’ll end up finding my way back to the game because I love it. In what capacity, I don’t know.

“Maybe coaching, maybe a general manager role or sporting director. I feel like I would thrive in those areas because I don’t know if I could trust myself on the sidelines. I would probably get in trouble all of the time.”

While her career is yet to reach its conclusion, Fishlock can count numerous achievements both on and off the field. When asked about her most rewarding moments, she reflected: “Bringing visibility to the LGBTQ community has been a huge one.

“I came out publicly when I was very young and in Wales, it just wasn’t heard of. I made a point of doing it in a BBC article because it was important to me that views changed. Since then, I’ve been a big advocate of that.

“Also being part of a group that has changed the view of what football is and who it’s for. Changing the language and messaging around women’s football and creating that legacy in Wales where mindsets and investments have changed. There’s nothing bigger than that.

“We can go to the Euros, a World Cup, I can play football, but none of that really matters if there’s no fundamental, structural change that football is for everybody and we have been able to change that in Wales. Nothing that I do on the field will matter if none of that changes.”