KEIRA WALSH
Position Centre-midfield | Caps 14 | Goals 0
“WHEN I WAS A KID I HAD TWO GOLDFISH. I NAMED ONE NICOLAS ANELKA, THE OTHER WAS SHAUN GOATER”
Have you always played in midfield? When I was about eight or nine, I was playing in a boys’ team and our goalkeeper got injured, so I had to go in goal. I actually did pretty well. I played there for quite a bit of the season and then went back to my own position later on.
Which players did you look up to when you were growing up? In men’s football I’ve always loved David Silva – I’m a Manchester City fan so I used to watch him all the time. In the women’s game it was French midfielder Camille Abily. I love the way she moves the ball. Playing against her in the Champions League was amazing.
We’ve read you’re a bit of a Shaun Goater fan – is that true? I was really young, but I had two goldfish. One was named Nicolas Anelka and the other was Shaun Goater. I think I probably heard my dad say he’d scored loads of goals, so kind of just went with that. I was like, ‘Yeah OK, I’ll call my fish Shaun Goater.’
Did you watch much women’s football when you were younger? No, not really. I always watched men’s football and didn’t actually know that a lot of women played football or that there was an England team. It was only when I got a bit older and wasn’t allowed to play boys’ football any more that I moved into it and watched more games. The first match I saw was England vs Holland. It was played near the Trafford Centre, so my mum took me and a few mates over to see it.
Is one of your ambitions to get more young women watching football? Yeah, absolutely. It’s only going to progress the game even further. To have role models that you can watch on TV is so important. As I said, I didn’t really know any players, but I think that would have helped me love women’s football even more if I could have seen someone and copied how they played.
You broke into a strong City team when you were 17 – was that daunting for you? It was daunting. I turned up on the first day and was really nervous. I didn’t have time to think about it too much as I was thrown in at the deep end. I think if I’d sat back and been like, ‘I’m now playing football with Jill Scott, Steph Houghton and Lucy Bronze, I would’ve been like, ‘Wow!’ But yeah, I didn’t have time to think about it and got thrown straight into the starting XI. We won the county cup, then pushed on from there and now we’re signing even better players. It was unbelievable to be playing and training alongside England stars.
Do you feel like there’s more pressure on your shoulders now? Yeah, there probably is because there’s more media interest in women’s football and people are starting to have more of an opinion. That’s nothing me or the girls can’t handle, though, as pressure sometimes makes you play better.
How much do you remember about the last Women’s World Cup? I don’t think I watched many games because of the time difference, but I remember all the hype around the team. The girls were amazing, and I think that was the forefront of interest in women’s football. That’s something we’ll be trying to emulate this summer and hopefully I’ll play a part in it. The hype around the men’s World Cup in Russia and everyone saying, ‘It’s Coming Home’ created a great atmosphere.
Do you feel like the 2015 World Cup helped change the perception of women’s football? Yeah, I think people watching at home realised that women are actually pretty good; they’re technical. Lucy Bronze scored an unbelievable goal – that first-time finish against Norway – to get England through to the quarter-finals. That was when everyone said, ‘Actually, yeah, women are pretty good, so I’m going to start supporting them.’ It’s pushed on from there.
Is the aim to win the World Cup? Yeah, I think if that wasn’t the aim there’s no point in going. We’re going there to win and give 100 per cent. That’s always the message that Phil Neville sends out. We’re going to win.
What would winning the World Cup do for the women’s game in England? I think it would show little girls that you can make it in professional football, and that you can be the best.
There’s a few Scottish players in your City team, and England take on Scotland in their World Cup opener. Has the banter started? It has a bit. When they’re taking a free-kick in training, I’ll say, ‘I know where you’re putting that free-kick’ or, ‘I know how you take your penalties.’ To be fair, though, I actually get on really well with all the Scottish players. I was talking to Claire Emslie in the gym the other day and we both said how weird it’ll be lining up against each other.
What’s Phil Neville like? He’s actually very funny! He’s got a dry sense of humour and sometimes thinks he’s funnier than we think he is! He’s really good, though. After a game he’s always texting the players and asking how we’re doing, and I think that’s important. Some of the players like that type of relationship with the coach, where you can talk about things other than football. He joins in with the girls’ five-a-side matches and is so competitive! He just wants to win and ends up screaming. But I like that, it pushes the squad.
Is there anything he does differently? He’ll tell you if you’re doing something wrong. With other managers I’ve had, they don’t want to be too negative, so put more of a positive spin on things. As a player, I like to know what I’m doing wrong and he’s not scared to tell me. Once you have a chat, he puts his arm around you and tells you what you’re doing well, too. He finds a balance really well.
Do you remember him as a player? I’m a City fan so I can’t say I watched United – my dad would never allow the Reds on TV! Sometimes Phil texts me if we’ve lost to say, ‘Did you see the game?’ Just a bit of banter.