Olivia Rabjohn eyes Manchester United scalp and sisterly bragging rights
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An injured Evie Rabjohn will watch on as her United team face sister Olivia’s West Brom in FA Cup fourth round. The West Brom midfielder Olivia Rabjohn and her sister Evie Rabjohn, a defender for Manchester United, had a feeling as soon as they woke up on the morning of the fourth-round draw for the FA Cup: their teams were destined to meet.
![[Suzanne Wrack]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2022/07/13/Suzanne_Wrack_2.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Olivia was out when the draw took place, but Evie was on hand to FaceTime and fill her in. The meeting of the two sides on Saturday, though, is somewhat bittersweet. Evie sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury with the England Under-19s last July and although her recovery is going well, she is not yet ready to return to the pitch.
![[Olivia Rabjohn in action for West Bromwich Albion against Durham in last season’s Women’s FA Cup third round encounter.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/12ab1af9f8d6ba3e57b20e39498e7a45feb05b2e/0_0_3541_2361/master/3541.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Evie, who at 19 is three years younger than her sister, may not have featured prominently anyway but excitement is high. “Lots of family are coming, obviously,” Olivia says. “I know she’s not playing, and I don’t know how many times meeting each other will happen in our careers, but no, it’s good. I don’t get to watch United very often because we play at the same time, and Evie doesn’t get to watch me. So, it’s quite nice in that sense.”.
![[Evie Rabjohn kisses the trophy after Manchester United defeated Spurs in last year’s final.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/54a8f807c118df73594f1ea3dcc1d6d686b8fb06/0_0_4120_2747/master/4120.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Surely, given Olivia will likely play, there can be no doubt which end their family will be in at Leigh Sports Village, the home of United’s women? “She sorted them a box, so …” trails off a bemused Olivia. Despite their age gap, their careers took a similar path. “I got scouted for West Brom when I was playing for a grassroots team,” Olivia says, “and then she came along and trained as well, but she was too young to join at the time.” They both tried out for Birmingham City’s academy and got in, then, when Olivia was 18 and Evie 15, they moved across to Aston Villa’s under-21s. “That’s the first time we nearly played together, because there was a bigger age bracket,” Olivia says. “Then we did pre-season together with the Villa first team.”.
