‘Our aim has always been to play in a major tournament for Wales, and that’s still the case now’
After six long months without international football, Wales Women resume their bid to qualify for their first major tournament on Tuesday when they face World Cup quarter-finalists Norway. Helen Ward, Wales’ record goalscorer and the eldest member of Jayne Ludlow’s Wales squad, is hoping to play her part and make history by helping Wales to reach Euro 2022. Sports writer Katie Sands caught up with the record-breaking striker before the big match...
IT’S A good thing for Wales that nobody sat Helen Ward down when she was a youngster at school and tried to dissuade her from a career in top-level football.
But the reason why that didn’t happen is because Helen didn’t actually believe it was possible herself.
“When I was at school I didn’t even consider it as a career because there wasn’t a full-time option or professional element to women’s football,” she explains.
“I was lucky I just played it because I enjoyed it, I had friends that played it and I happened to be half decent.”
Half decent is certainly not a word others would use to describe her now, and it wasn’t one her former Wales and Arsenal teammate and now Wales manager Jayne Ludlow would have agreed with on Helen’s debut against Luxembourg 12 years ago, either.
“Jayne was the captain, and she had that presence about her even as a player, nobody wanted to make a mistake.
“We actually went 1-0 down, which was not part of the plan, but not too long after I managed to score. Everyone came over and congratulated me, Jayne took me by the head and said, ‘We’ve finally got a goalscorer’.
“I thought, ‘I can relax now, she likes me, she thinks I’m ok’. It was a really good start and to win 6-1 as a team was a really good moment. I’ll always remember those words from Jayne.”
The 34-year-old Wales striker is now Welsh international football’s top goalscorer, with 90 caps and 42 goals to her name. Her predatory, marauding nature on the field can change the pace of a game like the flick of a switch.
Her goal tally is nine more than Gareth Bale’s 33 Wales goals, with the new Tottenham signing frequently being credited with Ward’s record as top goalscorer for Wales.
Goals are Helen’s bread and butter, if you like: they are what the Watford captain is judged on.
“It’s obviously a record I’m very proud of. I’d love to increase that number if I got the opportunity. But whatever happens, to score more than 40 goals for Wales is something I will always be incredibly proud of.”
Helen is the eldest member of the Wales squad currently preparing for a Euro 2022 qualifier against Norway on Tuesday, the toughest of their remaining four matches as they bid to make it to their first major tournament.
The coronavirus pandemic put paid to their qualifier schedule, also postponing Europe’s women’s football showpiece tournament back by 12 months too.
Since lockdown, there has been plenty of talk about how Covid-19 will affect the sporting world, especially women’s sport.
“I’d like to think in terms of women’s football, I feel like we’re quite a resilient bunch and we’ve constantly had to prove ourselves of being worthy, if that’s the right word to use.
“You’re always fighting on social media and everywhere else, ‘How dare women talk about football, let alone play it’.
“I do feel like this is a bit of a reset button and can be used for the good.
When you don’t stop to look at things, you keep going with how it is even if it’s not working brilliantly because you haven’t got time. We’ve had that chance now and it’s up to us to take it.”
Speaking of resilience, her level of experience within the game gives her a confidence to use her platform to challenge a few mindsets.
“I do enjoy the odd – conversation, we’ll call it”, she says when asked about her approach to social media.
“I’d never set out to be nasty and I’d never set out to look to start an argument or a debate, but if I feel like I know enough about what I’m talking about and I know what they’re saying is wrong, I’ll call them out on it.
“Sometimes my husband [Matt] will say I don’t know why you bother, and a lot of the time I don’t bother with it, but there are some that just get in there. Sometimes it’s boredom as well!”
While she admits social media has been “brilliant”, especially for women’s football, there is also the “nasty” side.
“I think it’s important that we out those people and we put them up there and say this isn’t on, this is the kind of thing we have to deal with, come and support us.
“Although I do enjoy the odd Twitter spat, I haven’t actually done it for a while, maybe I’ll have to have a look through my timeline!” The negative side of social media is the usual ‘What do you know about football, you’ve never played in the Premier League’.
“No”, Helen says, “but I’ve got 90 caps at international level. Just because it’s not in men’s football it doesn’t mean my opinion is any more or less than yours.
“It’s normally to do with being a woman in a ‘man’s world’... supposedly.”
On the subject of her Wales record, many refer to Bale as the recordholder for the most Wales goals since he surpassed Ian Rush’s record of 28 goals with a hat-trick in China in 2018.
Adidas gifted Bale with a personalised pair of boots a few months later, complete with Welsh dragon silhouette and “Gwlad#29” for his goal tally, to which Helen posted a public reply to the global sportswear manufacturer: “Lovely touch...wouldn’t mind a pair myself. Gwlad #42”.
“I never did get my pair!” Helen laughs when it’s brought up.
“You can’t take away from Gareth’s record, he has beaten Ian Rush’s goal-scoring record for the Welsh men’s national team, and that’s brilliant, and I’ve got the record for the women’s national team.
“I don’t think you should really compare the two, to be honest. It was more of a tongue-in-cheek thing, but at the same time if you’re going to recognise his achievement, it would be nice...
“It’s the same as the caps. A lot of people refer to Chris Gunter as the most capped Welsh player. He’s the most-capped men’s Welsh player, Jess Fishlock is the most-capped women’s player. Recognise them both, and if you’re going to refer to Chris refer to him as the men’s and Jess as the women’s.
“They are records in their own right, but if you’re going to talk about women then you have to talk about men, and not just assume that a men’s record is a Welsh record.
“Thankfully there has been more attention surrounding the likes of Jess and Loren Dykes who have made that 100-cap mark, and Sophie Ingle will do that in the next game as well.
“I think it’s important for us to showcase them in the same light as they would when or if Chris Gunter does it or any of the other boys. Appreciate each record in its own right.”
Calling such assumptions out isn’t an intention to diminish one record or achievement in favour of another.
“It’s just a case of trying to get more people in that frame of mind, where you’re not trying to diminish one record by talking about another, but acknowledgement, really, is all we’re after.
“I don’t probably get much acknowledgement for it, and that’s what it is. Whether it’s because it’s not an England record, that’s a whole different story. I think Jess mentioned it before that you have to work a lot harder to prove yourself... if you’re Welsh you have to prove yourself a little bit more. Then as a Welsh woman it probably makes it even harder to prove yourself ‘worthy’ of whatever record it may be.
“As long as those people around me, and the people around Jess, Loren and Sophie, appreciate what we’ve done, then that’s enough for us. At the end of the day, I’m not out here to try and impress everyone.
“I’m just trying to do my job and if that comes with scoring 42 goals for my country then great, but that’s a record for me and my family and anyone else who wants to take an interest. I’m not trying to force it upon anyone.”
Mum to daughter Emily, nearly six, and son Charlie, three, motherhood is something that’s definitely changed Helen’s approach to football.
“Mostly because I can come home having had the best or worst game and I’ve still got two kids that need me. They can quickly bring you back down to earth, and sometimes that’s a great thing.
“Your priorities change. Obviously I’m still massively focused on football and I’ll always do everything I can to be the best player I can be but my family will always come first.”
Helen will be hoping to make an impact for Wales on Tuesday in Oslo, Norway. Aged 34, her dream of reaching a major tournament is well and truly still alive, with Wales currently second in their group and unbeaten half way through.
“I’d like to be on the pitch myself as much as possible but if I’m not I don’t want to sit there and sulk in the corner and not be of any use because ultimately the result is what we want at the end of the day, whichever 11 players are on the pitch.
“For the actual tournament to be postponed by a year, for someone like me, who’s just turned 34, it’s a bit of a ‘wow, can I keep going until I’m 36?’ I’d like to think if Jayne wants me and selects me, then I’ll be able to keep myself in good enough condition to be able to represent the team if we were to get there in 2022.
“It would be quite a nice way to draw the curtains on my career but we’ve got a job to do in the meantime and if I’m going to get picked, I need to keep myself in good shape and good form and hopefully everything will work itself out in a couple of years’ time.
“I always thought I’d stop after having children, and then I’ve done that twice and kept on playing.
“As long as my legs will take me, I’ll make myself available for selection and see what happens from there.”
Does she allow herself to think about getting there?
“Our aim has always been to play in a major tournament for Wales, and that’s still the case now. To try and tell you now that I’m not thinking about it wouldn’t be true.
“It’s not going to be easy but this autumn is crucial for us, and if we do get the job done then we’ve got a good 18 months or so to prepare for what will hopefully be the best summer of our lives.”