Beever-Jones’ first foray into regular first-team football came with a move to Bristol City for the 2021/22 Women’s Championship campaign.
She was joined by another new face in manager Lauren Smith – who remains the Robins’ head coach – who lit up when recently asked about her former loanee.
“Aggie’s great,” Smith said ahead of Bristol City’s WSL match against Chelsea.
“Watching her career develop and her as a person develop has been just great. She came to us as a very young footballer, just 18, and you could see it in everything that she did. We were part of the process and that’s what we hope to be – part of the process for these players that go on and play at the top level.
“I know that she’ll carry on growing. She’s a great person and she came to watch quite a few of our games last year in the Championship, so I know that she supports us as well.
“I hope she goes on after that point [the WSL match between Bristol City and Chelsea] to carry on smashing it because I’m so pleased that she’s managed to get herself into that squad and get onto the pitch. For Emma [Hayes] to rely on her week in, week out is so pleasing to see because she is a phenomenal talent.”
Beever-Jones too only had positive memories of Bristol City, and Smith herself.
“I still message Lauren every so often because she was a very important person in my career,” Beever-Jones said with a smile.
“Bristol City took me in with open arms when I was 18 years old with not much experience really in Championship football.
I’m so pleased that she’s managed to get herself into that squad and get onto the pitch. For Emma [Hayes] to rely on her week in, week out is so pleasing to see because she is a phenomenal talent.
“They welcomed me like I was one of their own and helped me in many ways both on and off the pitch, with living away from home and getting the support I needed.
“Then on the pitch, they trusted me to play, which as a younger player, is something you really need. You need that game time to experiment, try new things and make mistakes. I was able to do that at Bristol City.
“We ended up finishing third that season and then they went on to get promoted the following season so I was really happy for them.”
The next move came as Beever-Jones joined fellow WSL side Everton in the 2022/23 season. It marked a step-up in league and a step-up in quality, with the forward describing the campaign as ‘the right step at the time in my career to understand the league a bit better’.
Beever-Jones added: Brian [Sorensen] has helped me again, and I managed to speak to him after the game [against Everton this season] when I scored, which I felt a bit bad about.
“Everton helped out massively as well, they gave me that trust and game time I needed.
“I always look back on both clubs with very fond memories and thank both coaches because they’ve helped me a lot.”
The 20-year-old’s heatmaps show how much more defensive work she had to do at Everton, especially compared with her current season with Chelsea.
When asked if that was one of the purposes of her Everton move, Beever-Jones replied: “You’ve hit the nail on the head. At Chelsea, we’re ball dominant and at Everton, we had to defend a lot more.
“For me at the time, that’s what I needed to work on so it was a perfect fit for me to go to Everton and work on that part of my game.
“After the chats I’ve had with Emma and Denise [Reddy], they can see the progression I’ve made and that was ultimately what the loan was for.”
And of course, when discussing Beever-Jones’ time at Everton and her journey so far, it would be remiss to not mention her red card against Arsenal, the first of her professional career.
It was a crunching tackle on Lia Walti that led to a distraught Beever-Jones’ dismissal. As is unfortunately part and parcel of football these days, it was followed with social media abuse.
It led to both Beever-Jones and Walti making online statements – the former an apology, the latter a plea for kindness. The Arsenal midfielder said: “Football is a contact sport, these injuries happen and are part of our game. No need for any hate or bad comments towards Agnes Beever-Jones please. Thank you!”
At the time still a teenager, there were lessons to be learnt in not only her own game, but also her first exposure to the sometimes harsh – and unjustified – realities of the spotlight.