Arriving in north London as an 19-year-old, now 20, the young defender made 19 appearances in the league in total, missing just three games, with two of those coming during her participation with Japan in the Asian Cup, and Head Coach Martin Ho said ‘she's performed at such a high level for a young player' after she scored the winning goal in our WSL season finale on the south coast.
Putting in another excellent performance in the backline at Amex Stadium, the Japan international collected the ball from Sophie Baggaley’s attempted clearance and spotting the Seagulls’ goalkeeper off her line, she lifted a superb shot over everyone and into the empty net.
Named as our Adults Supporters' Player of the Season, Toko ran straight to the dugout to embrace Martin, the coaching staff and all her team-mates before receiving a chorus of applause from our supporters at the end of the game.
So, how did Toko sum up that goal? “It's the best goal ever,” she told us after the match, when speaking to SPURSPLAY with Ella Morris before describing it as ‘the best game she has ever played in.”
“She's been fantastic,” Ella added, when asked about Toko’s impact this season. “She's an amazing addition in the changing room. She brings so much laughter off the pitch but on the pitch her quality is unbelievable.
“The sky's the limit for Toko. I can't rave enough about her on the ball. I love playing alongside her. She's brilliant, so I'm so excited to see what she's going to go on and achieve.”
We had to fight back from one goal down to overcome an in-form Brighton side, after Madison Haley fired the hosts into the lead early in the second half, but Olivia Holdt netted her 10th goal of the season to start the comeback before Toko’s late winner ensured we ended our record-breaking campaign with another three points.
“It's a historic season, we wanted to end it even more positively,” the full-back told us, reflecting on the game. “So, to get the win against a really good team, in a good stadium with a good atmosphere is buzzing. I think the girls are going to be really happy today.
“It was a bit hectic, it was very transitional, so to have gone a goal down, I think the girls did really well to claw back the two goals and Toko here with a fantastic finish to give us a win.”