Young players say negative body comments ‘common around girls’ football’

English football player Fran Kirby spoke out against the negative body image comments that both young and international players are flooded with. Soon after Kirby opened up about receiving those comments, grassroots footballers Daisy Clements and Charlotte Wilkie said that they are not a strangers to these comments.

The Chelsea midfielder told BBC Sport about how she was described after a game – “Fran played really well, what a game, but she looked big today.”

“I had countless comments about having big thighs and how strong my legs look,” the 21-year-old Daisy told BBC Newsbeat.

“When you’re that young, you do start to worry. I thought I don’t want to wear leggings because then everyone can see the shape of my legs,” she added.

As for 21-year-old Charlotte, negative body comments do not affect her playing the beautiful game, however, has “definitely made me a lot more conscious of what I ate”.

“It’s quite a common thing around girls’ football. It’s definitely not a shock to hear what she [Fran] said.”

Daisy plays for Stourbridge FC in Birmingham and believes that there has been a perception of how a female football player should look like. “But what they look like does not affect their ability to be a good footballer,” she said.

“I went to a school where girls weren’t allowed to play football. It was specifically the boys do football, the girls do netball,” she said as she pointed toward a deeper issue around the comparison of males and females in sports.

Charlotte, who played for Birmingham City’s development teams throughout her childhood, echoes Daisy’s comments on perception. She said that when it comes to females, there has to be “an ideal type of athlete”.

“And how they look, but obviously women’s bodies are very different.

“I don’t think it’s ever going to be the same as that. There’s always different types, shapes and sizes in women’s football,” Charlotte added.

Kirby, who is Chelsea’s record goal-scorer, explained that she now has “no fear” raising these issues because she’s an experienced international.

“I have been around long enough to suffer my own abuse growing up and seeing it on social media – you don’t become accustomed to it, though, and there’s still things you read.”

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