‘The first time I heard an explosion in Ukraine? It shakes up your life’ … Glasgow City striker Nicole Kozlova talks about her courageous decision to play football under enemy fire for a year in her family’s war-torn homeland

As we sit chatting about the cold weather in Scotland, Glasgow City and Ukraine striker Nicole Kozlova is quick to offer up a reminder of how bleak the winter has been for her former team-mates in a war zone.

Born and raised in Toronto to Ukrainian parents Dmytro and Olya, the 25-year-old is a veteran of the US college system who jumped at the chance to play in Denmark as soon as her studies would allow.

However, it was during her time at Danish side HB Koge – with her mum and dad back in Dnipro and her international team-mates going through war on the front lines – that she took the courageous decision to sign for Vorksla and play games under fire from the Russians invaders in her family’s homeland.

She already had caps for Ukraine, but this was an experience she felt she had to undergo – and one she will never forget.

‘There were a lot of reasons why I did it, some harder to explain than others,’ says Kozlova, taking time off from helping City reach the summit of the ScottishPower Women’s Premier League. ‘Living through the war for a year has taught me so much about life. And just myself in general.

‘There were also football reasons, of course. The team I went to are quality. Better quality than a lot of people think.

Ukraine star Kozlova, above left, in action for league leaders Glasgow City against Hearts

Kozlova is pictured on the ball for Vorskla, who play in her family’s Ukraine homeland

‘We were going to be competing in Champions League and things like that. So, there were football reasons and, of course, life reasons as well.

‘There’s no way to explain it, to be fair. Until you actually live it, it’s really hard to understand.

‘The first time I heard an explosion three kilometres away – it’s different. It shakes up your life and you understand it a bit more.

‘Or, you know, water being turned off, power being turned off. I had to deal with that in my final few months there.

‘It’s just a glimpse of what people are going through now. The whole power thing is tragic right now in Ukraine. People are living without power in minus 20-degree weather.

‘We’re complaining about two-degree weather (in Scotland). And we have heating and everything we need. It gives you perspective and just you understand it a bit more.

‘Nothing overrules experience. So, yeah, it was definitely eye-opening.

‘It wasn’t easy to leave either, despite the bad things. There’s a reason why all the Ukrainians stay home. It is your home and your life.

Toronto-born Kozlova admits it wasn’t easy to leave Ukraine after her experiences there

Kozlova in the thick of the action for Glasgow City against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final

‘Coming here to Scotland, my family moved back to Canada at a similar time. But I’m still following the news. I have a lot of team-mates still there and I’m always checking in.’

Kozlova is fascinating for reasons that go beyond one extremely brave move.

For starters, there’s her fascination with maths and data. Something that has kept her employed part-time with Swedish football analysis company Twelve Football.

Her immigrant parents understood the value of education. Kozlova quickly developed her own laser-focused approach to school work and went to an advance high school that focused on mathematics. Fortunately for City fans, she had the same approach towards football.

‘I’ve always had this obsession of doing every little detail and being in an environment where everybody has a similar mindset as me,’ she revealed. ‘I don’t know where it comes from. The overachieving, being good at what you do, is probably a family thing. We all grew up having pretty good grades

‘Obsessive with football? Probably from my dad. But I don’t know, maybe that’s just who I am.

‘I remember laughing when I was 14, working for a summer camp. It was the first time being a coach. And they were, like: “Okay, make a day-to-day plan of what drills you’re going to do…” I wrote out a 51-page plan by accident! I sent it over, and he just looks at me and goes: “Nicole, what did you just do? We can use these drills for the next three years”!

Kozlova admits she learned so much more about life while staying in Ukraine and playing football there

‘With my family background, I always liked maths in school. I didn’t know stuff like football data analysis actually existed. 

‘Then grade 10, when I was looking at universities in the States, I was exploring different schools. Mostly for football but, for me, academics were always important.

‘I went to a high school for maths and computer science. They had a programme, computer modelling data analytics. And I was, like: “Oh, that’s what I want to study”.

‘This was a mixture of programming, maths, and statistics, where you think you see something. And then you try to back it up with kind of the idea. So, that’s why I decided to study that.

‘I went to university and then I was looking for internships. I landed one with Statsbomb, who were the top data people at the time. I just fell in love. I was, like: “Oh, this is the best of both worlds because I’m obsessed with football”.

That passion for football would eventually win Kozlova a full scholarship to Virginia Tech and then a career as a professional. She tells a familiar story of playing with boys, being part of a girls’ national training programme – but eventually running out of challenges. Even in Toronto, there was a lack of competition.

She and the best of her national programme team-mates created their own solution, aged just 14 and 15. They joined a senior women’s league.

‘I was 15, playing with 30-year-olds at this point,’ recalls Kozlova. ‘It was fun for us. We dominated quite a lot there. And, once you win your local, you kind of go more regional, more national.

Nicole Kozlova is now loving life in Glasgow as a striker for league leaders City

As well as playing football, Kozlova works part-time for a football data analysis firm

‘I’m guessing other teams didn’t love it. For us, it was less the games and more the training environment. If I look at the young players who were there, so many of them have gone on to really good places now.’

It was a road that eventually led her to Koge, Vorskla, and now Glasgow City, as well as almost half a century of caps for Ukraine.

Laughing about turning up late on her first day at City because of a delayed flight, Kozlova has found a new footballing family in Glasgow. She’s at home in the city.

But, then, she’s always been comfortable in unfamiliar environments. With younger siblings at home, and international commitments taking her on long trips even when she was in high school, she learned the basics pretty early.

‘I’m very independent. Some people say overly independent and, yes, some of my team-mates would say that! I’d be comfortable living almost anywhere. I would figure it out. So, you can throw me anywhere in Europe, I’d be okay.’

■ ScottishPower is the exclusive Principal Partner for the Scottish Women’s Premier League (covering SWPL1&2) and for grassroots governing body Scottish Women’s Football (SWF). One of Scotland’s largest employers, it is dedicated to energising women’s football at every age and stage of the game and supporting communities right across the country.