“I am proud to be a Next 20 ambassador for Kick It Out and take this role very seriously for an organisation that does such good work.”
“It was nice to have success in the SheBelieves Cup, but that just brings more pressure.”
“Clubs in other countries can step up, and we can kick on with women’s football even more.”
“Hopefully, now there are kids, both male and female, even senior players, who open themselves up now and are more open to going abroad and playing their football. I’ve learnt so much, and they can, too.”
“It was a big step for me to take, going away from my family to go and play in a different culture, and I understand why people don’t do it.”
“We want to take ourselves out of our comfort zones; when you’re in your comfort zone for so long, you only play to a certain level.”
“It’s kind of nice, and rewarding, to have been on the journey from having to play football and work to being a professional.”
“When I look back to being a 10-year-old girl, I never could have dreamt of having this pathway. I feel very fortunate and proud, but I know I have to be part of creating new opportunities for the youth coming through.”
“I’ve had a lot of success in England, and I’ve really enjoyed my time with Manchester City, but I wanted to challenge myself even further by playing abroad.”
“For me, Barcelona are the biggest club in the world, and naturally, I wanted to come here.”
“I have had a lot of success in England, but I want to have even more.”
“I think I need another trophy on my list, and I know that Barca’s ambition is to win the Champions League. This is my goal, too.”
“I used to look at my team-mates like Lindsay Johnson and Rachel Brown, who were full-time teachers and trained in the night. I was like, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ I always believed I’d go full time.”
“I’m not too bad at reading, but I’ve got a bit of a confidence problem with speaking, with going from Scouse to Spanish.”
“Luis Suarez’s always been a great role model for me. His style of play is sometimes like he’s playing with his mates in the street.”
“At Barcelona, all men’s and women’s teams have the same style and philosophy.”
“In Spain, they’re never direct, and that frustrates me.”
“Every club has legends, and at Barcelona, Cruyff and Pep are going to be spoken about forever, knowing what they’ve achieved and in what style.”
“At City, you’d see Pep chewing someone’s ear off about football and think, ‘Wow. I’d love to ask a question, but I’d probably be there for a week.’”
“In the past, we might have lost a game, and you get fans messaging you, saying, ‘Ah, don’t worry, you’ve done so well,’ and it can be a bit patronising, do you know what I mean?”
“When people ask me, ‘Should I earn the same money as the men?’ No, I don’t believe I should because they’re on a bigger scale than me, they have more fans, are more popular.”
“In Spain, there’s a lot more publicity.”
“In England, I think we get about 30,000 for maybe an FA Cup final, and there are lots of kids on the seats, which is nice – don’t get me wrong – but it’s a calm atmosphere.”
“It was a dream come true to wear the famous colours of FC Barcelona.”
“Every coach will have good and bad.”
“I don’t like to compare coaches.”
“Not many of the girls go and play in Europe. I’m proud of the fact that I have.”
“When we speak about equality, you want to be playing on the best pitches with the best facilities. You want to be able to have a hot shower in the changing room. These are the things you need to get right if you want to be more professional on the pitch.”
“It is all right having Atletico Madrid and Barca at the top, but what about teams like Tenerife who play on such bad pitches? These little things need to improve, but media-wise, Spanish women’s football is a lot further along than in England.”
“There are a lot more teams in the Spanish league, and the biggest transformation came in the English women’s league when the amount of teams got cut down.”
“In England, if you don’t have good facilities, you can’t be in the Super League, and that is very important.”
“I’ve seen the facilities in Barcelona, and they are second to none. The women train with the men’s team, and the facilities are out of this world.”
“I spent four years at Manchester City and won three trophies. It was a big wrench to leave.”
“I can only thank Manchester City for everything they have done for me. What we have achieved in such a short space of time has been amazing.”
“Any athlete will tell you that it’s the most difficult thing in the world being injured.”
“We played a different style under Mark Sampson, and all credit to him, because we did really well. It worked for us; we were quite direct, but we were successful at doing it.”
“I’ve always been willing to get on the ball when I play for England. I’ve never hidden, but I’m more relaxed; my decision making is better because I’m calmer. Technically, it’s a different level in Spain, and I’ve had to bring myself up to that at club level.”
“I’ve learnt to be more patient, more comfortable on the ball, and the number of goals I’ve scored, I’m happy.”
“Naturally, managers and coaches are trying to find different ways to work.”
“In the past, you might have said, ‘This player is technically not good – let’s prey on her.’ But now, the game is professional in most countries – you can’t just play on that.”
“We were super successful under Mark Sampson because teams didn’t expect us to play the way we played. We were so direct and played to people’s strengths.”
“Tactics have changed a lot, but the standard is getting better.”
“We’ve actually played badly, and people are saying, ‘Ah, we’re so proud.’ Is it just because we’re the women’s team? If that was the men, you wouldn’t be saying that.”
“If the goals were a bit bigger, maybe I’d score a few more goals!”
“Some of the games in Spain… we played at the Wanda, which was amazing, but then the next week, they’re creating a penalty spot 10 minutes before the game starts.”
“When you sign a contract, that’s your deal. Everyone has different deals anyway.”
“It was tough, so hard; it really was horrible when I was growing up. I was called so many names, all sorts.”
“If I wasn’t the sort of character that I am, if I was shy, I would have been intimidated by it. I stood up to it; I used to have arguments every day in the street. I was constantly told I wanted to be a boy. People used to say I was a boy.”
“I was embarrassed to be seen in my football tracksuit because they knew I’d been training. I used to cross the road to avoid people. It was really hard. There were so many awkward situations. I just hope young girls now are able to play football and not have to experience what I did.”
“There will have been girls my age who stopped playing because of the spiteful things that were said to them.”
“I want to do the Atletico fans proud and hope that they will get behind me – together we can achieve great things.”
“The biggest thing that I’ve noticed since the move to Barcelona was announced is just how positive the comments have been. It was not just in the mainstream media, but also on social media.”
“I can remember, at the start of my career, there were reports of about 100 words here and there, and they would have got your name wrong or the name of the scorer wrong. It just wasn’t taken seriously at all.”
“It’s not just about going to play football abroad: it’s a chance to live and work in a fantastic city like Barcelona.”
“At a club like Everton, we’ve always set our standards high.”
“As soon as central contracts came in, it meant that girls could give up their jobs. The main focus was football, and that’s what it has to be.”
“I think it is just something in my head that tells me to keep believing. Andy Spence, my manager at Everton, wrote me a little card before we came away and wrote at the bottom, ‘Just remember, it only takes a second to score a goal.’”
“It would be a dream to go to my first World Cup.”
“I’m trying to create a better pathway for the next generation.”
“I didn’t have role models to look up to because there was no access to them.”
“We’ve come a long way, but we’ve still got a long way to go, so we need to give our time to promote the game and be role models – to make the next generation see us and want to become us.”
“FC Barcelona are known all over the world for playing attractive football, and I naturally wanted to be part of that.”
“When I was younger, I never thought I’d be brave enough to go and play abroad.”
“I loved playing in England. But after a few years, I didn’t find it challenging enough. I wouldn’t say I was bored, but it was becoming too repetitive – playing with and against the same players year after year.”
“They’ve been learning technique since they were babies. That’s their focus and emphasis. For example, in England, the day after a game is usually a day off or some gentle warm-downs, but in Spain, we come in and do really intense passing drills and technical work.”
“In England, you might have a possession game of six v. six, and it’s like headless chickens: people running around everywhere just trying to keep the ball and be strong in tackles. But in Spain, you always stay in your position. You’re still in your shape for every drill.”
“I believe the girls should be better paid but not the same as the men.”
“I dreamt of playing in front of thousands of people as a kid, but I dreamt of playing in World Cup finals as well.”
“For me, watching Sergio Aguero week in week out helps my game massively, and I’m sure the other girls would say the same about various other players.”
“I think you’ve seen the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City – the top clubs – all now tapping into the women’s market and developing that side of the club. It’s great for women’s football, and I look at how far we’ve come, and it’s great to have teams like this.”
“It’s great for the little girls coming through the system now to have women to look up to because, when I was younger, my role models were more, like, Michael Owen and players from the men’s team, but I get kids messaging me now saying they look up to me, and that’s really touching for me, but it’s great for the kids to have people to look up to.”
“The competition for World Cup places is massive, and you can’t just rest on what you’ve done in the past or anything like that.”
“We’re no longer scared of these nations – the Germany, U.S.A., and Frances.”
“In Spain, they’re doing something right because the attendances keep creeping up, and teams are getting the opportunity to play at the men’s stadiums.”
“I like the way Luis Suarez plays. When I was growing up, I was a Liverpool fan, and I watched a lot of him when he came to Liverpool. He did a really good job.”
“I think when I first went to Man City, they weren’t very professional. They were just starting out, and the men’s team had just invested a lot into women’s team.”
“Anyone who plays professional sport for a living is extremely lucky, and that’s my overriding feeling – I believe I have the best job in the world!”
“Yes, I’ve worked very hard and made sacrifices along the way, but I’m in the very privileged position of doing something that I love every single day – and earning a living from it.”
“Women’s sport is embedded in the mainstream consciousness now, and that is a hugely positive thing. That’s not to say that our sport can’t get even more popular – because I think it can – but perceptions have definitely changed for the better.”
“Since I’ve lived in Barcelona, I’ve played a bit of padel, so maybe I’ll become World Champion at that – joking, of course!”
“I’d recommend for any little girl starting out to play with the boys as long as possible.”
“It was always our aim to raise the profile of the game, and I believe it’s only going to get bigger.”
“I’ve been to Wembley before to watch Liverpool and Everton in the FA Cup semi-final in 2012. I saw the atmosphere there, and I didn’t ever think women’s football would be played in front of those crowds in my time.”
“When I was 12, I was told I couldn’t play with the boys anymore, and I was devastated.”
“In Spain, when we’re successful, we’re on the front page of the newspaper. Every newspaper. But when we lose, we’re slated, the same as the men. That’s the level the game is at.”
“It’s always something that’s played on my mind, being an Olympian, so hopefully we get there and do the job at the World Cup.”
“I think you judge players and managers on how they perform at World Cups.”
“From a personal point of view, you want to be playing in every game, but when you have to cope with the heat, the artificial surfaces, injuries, and tactics based around the coach’s selection, you can’t do it all.”
“At Manchester City, the women are not second-class citizens in any regard. We are treated exactly the same way – it’s a level playing field.”
“I think it’s important that the English culture changes a little bit and we do start to go abroad and step out of our comfort zone.”
“It was lucky I came from City; I’d say their philosophy is quite similar. Barcelona are a lot more advanced because they are the ones who created it, but they have a history of members of staff at Manchester City who worked here.”
“In England, you pass from A to B, and it goes to B, but in Barcelona, you have to go to D and then to F, and it really works your brain.”
“Most coaches’ attention to detail is very good; it’s their job. They have to analyse teams, and they have to analyse their own team.”
“If a club like Barcelona can do it, then why can’t other clubs? It’s amazing that we can be here alongside the men and the way everyone is integrated in the club. People aren’t just walking past you going, ‘Who’s that?’”
“Obviously, culturally, England’s style of play is a lot more direct and physical. In Spain, they’re a lot more patient, and they have the ball a lot more.”
“I’m always bragging, always laughing with my Spain team-mates at Barcelona, saying I’ll take 30 per cent possession and two goals – a win is a win. It’s football.”
“I’m very fortunate to have worked at two unbelievable clubs, Manchester City and Barcelona, and I feel like I’ve really changed the way I look at football from being around and in those environments, so I feel really privileged.”
“The Cameroon fans always bring a good atmosphere.”
“Women’s sport is changing all the time, no matter what role you play. No matter what part you play in a football club, women are getting a lot more opportunities, which is really positive.”
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