Top 35 Fran Kirby Quotes

I want to make my family proud as much as possible.

I want to pave the path as much as possible for the younger girls coming through.

That’s one thing I relish, the pressure of having to try and beat the best teams in the world.

When people ask me what I think about when I’m playing, I picture myself as a 10-year-old girl, playing in the park, scoring a goal and then celebrating. That’s when I’m playing best.

For me, I want to put football in the best possible way: where the girls play professionally, get the sponsorships they deserve, and set themselves up after football so that they’re not struggling and asking themselves what they’re going to do.

That’s what all of us want, why we’re getting involved in so many campaigns – we want to leave football in a better place than when we came into it.

I like to wear the same kind of boots that I’ve worn in training going up to the game so that I’ve got a feel for the boots.

It’s always in our mind-set to encourage young girls to get playing. The only way we can do that is being positive off the pitch, trying to engage as much as possible.

Before my mum passed away, I was a very extroverted person; I was very outgoing. I didn’t care what people thought about me.

I’ve had so many coaches that have helped me along the way through my journey, who understand me and know me as a person.

Ultimately, we are doing the same job as the men, but I understand that we’re not filling out stadiums.

I just remember playing in my school and then getting invited to go along to train with a development squad at Reading. My first training session, the manager said, ‘You have to come and play with the academy girls,’ so that would probably be my first footballing memory.

Every time I score, I celebrate like the kid I was playing in the park.

I’ve accepted now that it’s okay not to be okay. It is okay to be upset, and it is okay to need to talk to someone.

It’s what every kid dreams of: winning a World Cup for your country. There’s nothing that will ever, ever beat that or even compare to it.

When my mum passed away, I was very young, and I became very introverted and very quiet. I became very anxious about what people thought about me.

A lot of people recognise me now, especially the younger generations, definitely. But it’s not that common.

I really enjoy putting the ball in the back of the net. I enjoy being the person that’s creating things for the team.

For me, I want to be scoring goals. That’s what I’m judged on, and that’s what I judge myself on.

Me and my mum were really close. She’d come to all my football games; she was the one who was always there. If it was raining, and I didn’t want to go, she’d say, ‘Get in the car!’

It is great to see kits designed specifically with us in mind.

When I turned 17, that’s when it all got a bit too much. I decided to stop doing pretty much everything. I quit football. I wouldn’t get up in the morning. I wouldn’t go out of my room. I was very depressed.

People expect you to dribble past 10 players and put the ball in the back of the net.

Women’s sport is growing, becoming powerful, and we want to continue to raise that platform for the young girls at home.

You see now more girls getting involved in their sports because they can see it on TV and see these people playing, and I think – the more and more it’s exposed and is out there – it will continue to grow and grow. They watch it on TV and think, ‘Well, that could be me!’

I was playing at sixth form – training in the morning and going to the gym in the afternoon. I was doing my studying alongside it; then I’d go to training from eight to 10 at night.

We want to be the face of women’s football, to encourage young girls to play. If I have to be recognised in the streets to encourage them, I’m happy to do that.

Obviously when I was younger, when I was three years old, I used to kick a football around in the park or in the garden. I’ve got loads of videos, pictures of me doing it.

Especially in front of my dad, I don’t like being weak. I don’t like crying in front of my dad because I don’t want to make him cry.

We’re trying to win a World Cup for our country, and I think everyone who supports football can get behind that.

I’m very secretive about my feelings, very shy.

I joined the international stage quite late. I didn’t do many of the youth age groups, so to come into the senior team and to be offered a Nike deal – a very, very low Nike deal to start with – but I was jumping up to bite the woman’s hand off to sign the piece of paper.

My mum was massively important to everything I’ve done, and now her memory is a motivational tool for me.

I’ve come out of myself as a person at Chelsea and expressed myself on and off the pitch.

Ultimately, we need to grow the women’s game. That’s the biggest issue; it always has been. Then you can talk about equal pay and everything else.