Faye White’s trip to Mcdonald’s
The former Gunners defender got her big break in a fast food restaurant, then became England’s longest-serving captain
England came close to reaching the World Cup final. Do you think it’s only a matter of time before they win something? I do. We host the Euros in 2021, and Great Britain will have a team at the Olympics in Tokyo next year. We are close now. Previously when we were going to big tournaments, we were looking at the quarter finals, or wouldn’t a semi-final be amazing. Now we’re third in the world, and the team are more than capable. You were in the team that reached the Euro 2009 Final. How big an achievement was it? At that time, no one expected us to get to the final. We actually lost our first group game and finished third in the group. For us, to reach the final was like we’d won the whole tournament – we were first time finalists against Germany, the European champions four times over. That was a highlight of my career. You’re still the Lionesses’ longest-serving campaign, having held the armband for 10 years between 2002 and 2012. How proud are you of that? Massively. Just playing for my country was a huge honour, so it was brilliant to be captain for so long – especially during a period when we had to raise the standard of the game, drag it into focus and increase awareness. For young players now, players like Georgia Stanway and Nikita Parris, they’re coming in as professionals. I’d love to turn the clock back and be 18 again, to experience playing football all the time! What was your other occupation while you were playing? I was a fitness instructor at first, then I left my job to work for Arsenal, the club I played for. I was a development officer at Arsenal, but
White continued...
they allowed me to play or train whenever I needed to. With England, we went on to central contracts and were paid an annual salary by the FA. That allowed us to train more, but we still had our part-time jobs so we weren’t fully professional – even though we were training every day as if we were, whether that was as individuals or in groups. How much did it help when the central contracts allowed you to train more? It increased our fitness. That had been the biggest thing when we were playing the top nations like Germany or the USA – we just weren’t fit enough. Physically we weren’t able to compete with their strength and their fitness levels for 90 minutes. Now England players are professional and the players are touching a ball every single day. That’s the big difference and where we’ll see the ability level rise. We’re seeing that. At the beginning of your career, we read that players would often end up wearing a kit that was way too big? When I was first in the England team, we were wearing men’s kits. Then in the early 2000s, they started producing kits designed for women, although it was the same design as the men’s. It’s only this year when they’ve actually changed the design of the female kit as well, to make it more bespoke to the team. You were inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2015, alongside the likes of Gary Neville and Stuart Pearce. What was that like? It was a nice accolade to be able to say you have. There was a dinner, and we went along and had a nice meal. It’s a bit of history, a nice accolade to be able to say you have. How did it feel missing out on playing at the 2012 Olympics? It coincided with you starting a family, so it must have been a happy time as well... [Smiles] Yeah. I knew I was coming towards the end of my career. After the World Cup in 2011, I’d had quite a few injuries. I’d hoped I would carry on to the next European Championship, but I was 34. A few weeks into the following season, there was a realisation that my body was breaking down. The Olympics were on the horizon, but there was a concern that I might not be able to get there. It would have been great to experience it, but I experienced it in a different way as a pundit working for the BBC. How did it feel when you had to retire? Starting a family was the perfect thing to help fill the void, because retiring was a worry. For myself and players of a similar age to me, Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey, we were the first who’d sacrificed any other career to play football. When I first joined the England team, the older players had other jobs and that was their career, but they also played football. To raise the standard, we decided to focus on football as a career. Is it true that you signed for Arsenal in a Mcdonald’s? [Laughs] I didn’t actually sign that day, but that was my first meeting with the manager, Vic Akers, yes! He drove down because he knew I lived near Gatwick Airport with my family. I think he’d seen me in a game with my local team, because we played Arsenal in the FA Cup. The only place I could think of that he’d be able to find easily was the local Mcdonald’s! He asked me, “Would you like anything?” But I wasn’t going to ask for a Big Mac and fries if I wanted to sign for Arsenal! I just said, “I’ll have a cup of tea please.” The next time I met him, he took me to Highbury. He took me into a room, and I was thinking it was just going to be a meeting room, but it was one of the boxes overlooking the pitch. It was quite impressive. I signed there and then. You won an incredible 31 trophies in 17 years at Arsenal, and 10 Premier League titles. Is that a record? I don’t know! Maybe I should know that. [Laughs] It was a time when Arsenal were at the forefront of everything – they led the way for many years, and still continue to do so. We’re seeing Chelsea, Manchester City and now Manchester United, who’ve come in and are now giving it the same level of support that Arsenal have done for 30 years. I feel extremely fortunate to have played for such a strong team and a club who have always shown support to females, whether they’re players or supporters. What were the stars of the Arsenal men’s team like back then? Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry were very supportive. They always took an interest in the women’s team, and asked us about the games. They had an interest in every level of the club and encouraged us. They grew up in a different culture in how they viewed the women’s game in their country – France are always very supportive of the women’s team. I bumped into Thierry afterwards when he was playing for New York Red Bulls a few years ago. I was in America during Arsenal’s pre-season tour, and he came over and started talking to me. We had a good old chat for quite a while. He didn’t have to do that – he must meet so many people, and everyone expects a bit of his time. It was nice to catch up.