"PEOPLE LIKE ME AND ENI ALUKO SPOKE OUT AND GOT OSTRACISED FOR IT NOW I HAVE PEOPLE TELLING ME THAT I'VE INSPIRED THEM"

The pioneering Lioness on battling sexism as a young player, thriving in the USA and putting England Women on the map

- Chris Evans

You’re a big supporter of Project Marta, a competition to help young female stars earn a trial at a professional club. What does it mean to you?

Project Marta fits with exactly what I’m all about. I have my own football academy in New York and am a strong believer that you can always find diamonds in the rough. Just because people haven’t been found yet, they think they’ll never be found, but that’s not how it works. What I like about Project Marta is that the players aren’t exclusively young kids. Many have had opportunities but not been picked up, even though they’re good enough. Sometimes you can let a negative situation define you, whereas one coach’s opinion may not be the reality.

What was your journey to being scouted by Arsenal as a youngster?

Women my age have similar stories, where you’re the only girl on an all-boys’ team prior to getting spotted. I’d hear comments like, “What, am I playing against a girl?” – those sort of things. What makes me happy now is that girls can be at football tournaments and boys don’t make jibes, because they see female footballers on television and realising that you can have a good career – that the women’s game isn’t a joke. I was quite lucky, though. I signed for Arsenal when I was nine and they were always way ahead of the time.

There was still a sense of mistaken identity when you signed, though…