We Are Chelsea - Life In Blue: Carly Telford

Episode Date: April 19, 2024

This is We are Chelsea, the official podcast of Chelsea Women, brought to you in association with Škoda, the official car partner of Chelsea Women and proud supporters of women's sport. www.skoda.co.uk Today, Caz De Moraes is joined by club legend Carly Telford. Carly played in goal for Chelsea across two separate spells, and now works in the club's commercial department, having retired in March 2023. Carly is blue through and through, and has incredible memories from her playing days here. She talks about the impact Emma Hayes had on her career, how the club has evolved since she first arrived, and the amazing growth we are now seeing in the Women's game. Remember to subscribe and leave a review, wherever you get your podcasts! Send us your questions to [e-mail] To watch the full episode on YouTube, click here: https://www.youtube.com/@chelseafc/videos#WeAreChelsea Music courtesy of BMG Production Music Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Her ambition and drive to treat us as female athletes and not small men was probably my biggest thing that she drove year on year, whether that's bringing in a menstrual doctor, a sleep doctor, like delving into like sports science and how do we make it different. It's not just about everyone doing S&C the same way. We're all different athletes, different women. We're all different sizes and playing different positions and need different strengths. Hello and welcome to We Are Chelsea. The official podcast of Chelsea Women brought to you in association with Skoda, the official car partner of Chelsea women and proud supporters of women's sport. I'm Casdemorese, and today I'm joined by former Chelsea goalkeeper and club legend Carly Telford.

Carly had not one, but two stellar spells in blue, and now works in the women's commercial department at the club as well. Welcome to We Are Chelsea. Carly Telford, thank you so much for joining us. Welcome to We Are Chelsea. How are you? And where are you today? I'm really good. I don't know if you can see me, but if you can, I look like I'm about to hold a press conference. If you can't see me, I'm currently in the press room up in the

first team, men's building. But yeah, I am in a very quiet building because the guys play tonight, so it's nice and quiet up here. But yeah, I'm currently sat where Emmer and Potch usually do their press conferences from. So I'm feeling very important. I love it. I love it. Loads. I need to ask you about your new role. at the club. But I will come to that a little bit later on. I feel like there's so much to talk to you because I want to talk to you about your life in blue. You arrived at the club in 2011 from Leeds. Do you remember the day that you were first approached about playing for Chelsea? I do, yeah. And it probably was even before Leeds because it was Matt Beard that approached me.

So he was the Chelsea manager at the time. And I remember before Leeds, Charlton actually approached me so at the time it was Matt Beard was assistant manager there and then Charlton unfortunately fell through because their men's team got relegated so they pulled all the funding away from their women's team so then I went and played for

Leeds. We always maintained contact me and Beardy so when Leeds the story with Leeds is that everyone at that time was playing in the Premier League it was called and the WSL was a brand new franchise that everyone had to apply to get in

too. We were actually a really good team. Leeds. We'd won our first trophy. We had lots of internationals playing for us, very promising team. And unfortunately, Carnegie, who our sponsors at the time, pulled the plug and the funding. So Leeds then didn't exist anymore. So Matt B had got on the phone to me and said, how do you fancy come in to play for Chelsea who will be in the new WSL? And when a club like Chelsea comes knocking on your door, it's very hard to say no. unfortunately Chelsea weren't in the position that they are in currently

which is not top of league but second and in lots of trophies they were very much a brand new team that was looking to kind of start challenging but yeah I was kind of young and wanted to play at the highest level I was playing for England at the time as well

so yeah I signed for Chelsea and it's very young infancy for Matt Beard it's brilliant it's always interesting I guess to hear from players who have just signed in 2024 and players who signed when Chelsea was a very different Chelsea. Fran told us that when she signed her contract, it was in a service station. She was like, there was not glamorous.

I was just in a service station. I can't even remember which one. Where did you sign yours? And I guess, how different was it signing for Chelsea back then? Yeah, it was the same. So I met Matt in a service station. And it was weird because obviously, as you can hear, I am a Jody. So I lived in the Northeast.

I used to travel to Leeds after work. During this time as well, the FAA had announced that they were given us central contracts. So we could give up our jobs for the first time and be like professional full-time athletes, which was 16,000 pound. So at the time I was working for T-Mobile on 18,000 pound, and I thought, oh, if I can be a full-time football and take a two grand pay cut, I'll do it. So I'd kind of given up my job as working in a call centre, which allowed me to move to London. However, Chelsea didn't provide accommodation, which was quite funny.

so I was although I'd signed my contract for a minimal amount of money I was very lucky that because Leeds had been disbanded and some of the girls, Stephel won at the time and Ellen White who played for Leeds had also signed for Arsenal

and I knew Vicky because he was manager of Arsenal at the time because he tried to sign me as a kid when I was 17 for Arsenal but I was too scared so I didn't move to Arsenal when I was younger he allowed me to... Oh my God so this could have been a completely

different, very different journey yeah yeah so but because he knew me and I didn't have anywhere to live. He allowed me to live with Steph in one of the Arsenal houses. So I actually lived in London Colony with Steph and with Ellen White and then Jordan Knobbs. And the next quarter over the three year, three, four year period I was at Chelsea. And then commuted around the M25 and also still worked for T-Mobile during the day in Hartfordshire.

So, yeah, I was kind of working part-time. I was playing on an evening at Chelsea when we only trained twice a week at Tuesday, Thursday nights and played on Sundays and lived with the Arsenal girls. So, yeah, it was quite an intriguing one when we had to play against each other. But, yeah, it was, yeah, very different. But, yeah, it was very much similar. It was in a service station. Oh, my gosh. I mean, I was going to say, what are the differences between Chelsea back then and Chelsea now?

Well, first of all, they probably don't live with Arsenal girls. No, they don't. But, yeah, it was very interesting, but I'm very grateful for Vic for allowing me to do that because it allowed me to play for Chelsea. or else I don't actually know what I would have done. So, yeah, it was, it's actually a really funny story, but very cool. And yeah, I guess it showed where women's football was, what, 10? Yeah, I think it was Millie Bright who said to us that the lunches were a brown paper bag

when she started, you'd pick up your lunch, and now she's like, it's completely different. What are the key differences from a 2024 Chelsea and a 2011 Chelsea? I think it's really important for everybody to know the journey of this club and the journey that Emma Hayes has particularly taken this team on and it's not just the trophies we've won. For instance, this building has been here since I joined this club in 2011, but I wasn't allowed in it. We weren't allowed in it. We were only allowed in this training facility, Tuesday, Thursday,

evening's between 8 and 10 o'clock at night. Most of the time the grounds and would forget that we were here. So we'd switch the lights off, usually about half nine, but we still usually had half an hour. We'd pick the stuff up and leave. We had one training kit each and one playing kit each that had to be washed by the manager at the time.

We represented Chelsea, but that was probably about it. We weren't paid or paid a lot. And that was my first experience of what Chelsea was like. And I think that summed us up. We were second, third bottom. Didn't win a lot.

We got to one cup final, which I was captain for, got to penalty, save two penalties. unfortunately we missed three, so we came second. But that was probably the closest we got in terms of success. When Emma came in, so that was my third year at Chelsea, that's when everything changed.

When we first met, she was super ambitious. It came, as had came from like an American professional league. We finally got some rooms in a building down the bottom, which was the development and kind of like the, where they have like the international coaching and stuff like that, was all based in the building at the bottom, which is now the women's first team building. But yeah, we had one or two rooms where you could get changed down there before we'd walk up to train and again Tuesday Thursday nights. But it just snowballed.

From there, she started recruiting players from around the world because of who she was. She got more investment year on year. Yeah, her vision when I was first here was that she was going to win the league within three to four years. She was going to make Champions League and they'd win an FA Cup in three to four years. And she went and did that within her first three to four years. And when I tell you, she came in with absolutely nothing, but probably a bag of balls, some cones and some kit, that is literally what she had. Wow. But her ambition to be able to go and turn it into the superpower that it is is, it's pretty incredible when you look at, you look at it and you think about it. But it's also good to let people know the journey that we've

come on. And when we speak about Arsenal and I was living with the Arsenal girls, like they had everything already. They were full time. They were in all the kit. They were like, I was very jealous that I'd have to bring my kit home, wash it. And they had like a kit man, kit person. They had their meals sorted. They were traveling. They were doing overseas tours to Japan and preseason tours and stuff, stuff that like we could, we were never, never any, any.

And that's why they are, were the power house and still are a power house of women's football. But I think it's, Emma's coming from Arsenal, knew that they had that as well. And she wanted to make sure that Chelsea weren't going to be left behind and that we were going to be competing them in the future. And I think that's what she's been able to do. So, um, yeah, very long winded. but yeah, it's been quite the journey. Brilliant. No, we like it.

Who were the key players in the dressing room at that time? Oh, back in the day, God. It was Claire Raffey, Sophie Perry, Julie Flattery, Katie Chapman. Some of those girls, like grown up around kind of England under 17s, 19s and 23, so I knew a few of them from then, Helen Lander, Helen Blesard. There was quite a good few personalities, but everyone was at that stage where, like, we knew we were all part-time, wanted to be full-time, didn't know football was going to take us where we wanted it to.

There was rumours that the WSL was kind of going to be a big thing, but again, it was all a test and learn for everybody. Man City had gone full-time at this point, and we're kind of leading the way as well. I'd recruited really well. Arsenal, obviously, Arsenal kind of had recruited very well again, and had some good youngsters coming through. But Emma knew that she wanted us to be up there.

And although we had good personalities, did we have right personalities for the dressing room and for the ambition that she wanted to take us on? You can argue no, because a lot of us were released. I was one of them being quite a young, naive, Jordie kid that very much enjoyed living in London and being a part-time footballer.

But she knew she needed professionals, well-established footballers that wanted to come in and make a difference and take this team to another level. so her recruitment was very clever not only in the personalities that she brought in but the professionals that she brought in and as my time went on

and I went away and then came back God I honestly feel so blessed to have shared the dressing room with some of the personalities that I've had Gies or Yolucose Kaz Karnies, Millie Brights, Sam Kerr's like the list is quite incredible when I reflect on it

not just for their football and abilities but even like Crystal Dun and Drew Spend Hannah Blunt, like every day coming into work, if you want to class it as work, was just a pleasure because there'd always be something going on. There'd always be someone joking, someone in a mood, a bad mood, a good mood, someone taking the mick out of each other, like groups that would get together and just take the mick out of each other. And there was just always something going on. It was just such a really nice dynamic to come and working. But again, just such an ambitious

group that just always wanted to win. And that was in training, that was in the gym, and a small side of games and then every weekend when we played and every every kind of week midweek if we had games it was yeah as personality school i think so i was here for such a long period of time um and then even recently with with the likes of erin and milly and guru and yeah the list goes on like everyone has brought something different to this dressing room in a difference in a different way um whether it's culturally their personality their football their football and prowess like it's hard to to to pick out favourites because yeah sure yeah it's just yeah just i have so many memorable moments with so many different people um yeah i feel very very lucky to have i've spent a lot of time with these with these

girls well i'm going to come to your second spell in just a moment and i want to but i want to briefly touch on your first spell what are some of the standout moments and how do you look back at chelsea in that first spell at the club um that's a really good question i think standout moments is the FA Cup final. We weren't very good in the league and we'd gone on a bit of a mad cup run. I remember turning up to Bristol and it was a pretty packed and full stadium playing against Birmingham who at the time were one of the best or the best in the league. They had a lot of amazing players playing for them and they'd done some amazing things and we were up there competing with them. It was a beautiful day as most days are on FA Cup final day and we got so

close to get on the line twice, one in full time when we conceded a Kazconi free kick, which she took cheekily before the referee blew a whistle. We won't talk about that. And then again, we went ahead an extra time and then conceded later on an extra time. And then, like, say, penalties, we unfortunately missed three. I saved two, but missed three. So it meant that we lost. But I think a team that was, yeah, not doing very well in the league to go on a really good

FAA Cup run was really cool. And obviously, FAA Cup final day was, especially back then more than anything, was the pinnacle of your career because it was the game that was on TV, only one that was on TV. You'd always get a massive crowd. for some reason, it's always a really sunny, warm day. And yeah, it was, it was just a fantastic moment. Other than that, like, being given the captain's armband was incredible to captain.

A club like Chelsea is, and I was kind of forget about it. I think because it felt not really real or quite amateur at the time that it doesn't feel as powerful maybe as it does now, but to be able to have done that and, yeah, probably a long line of amazing people that have represented this club as captains is quite special as well but yeah um i'd say that i'm just grateful for that small kind of moment that i enjoyed but also give me a massive reflection as to who i wanted to be as a person and a footballer because i was quite like say young immature i loved representing this club but did i truly believe in who my capability is a footballer and who i was as a person probably not um but this that spell

taught me so much um and made me grow up as such as well so yeah my first three years was fun it was hard work a lot of travel um but yeah it gave me perspective i guess on who i wanted to actually really be as a human and as a footballer so um i'm grateful for it it was difficult but uh yeah it turned out all right in the end i guess yeah definitely did so i want to come to your second spell because being released must have at the time had a mixed bag of emotions um and then you came back for your second spell in 2017 how much had the club changed in that time and I guess what was it like rejoining and what made you want to rejoin um so the story of me being released is actually quite a funny one um so like i said to you

i was captain at the time i'd come back and emma told me all her plans people that she was going to release people that she was going to bring in so i was thinking this is i'm here for this like finally we're going on this this journey and then i got a it's quite quiet over preseason um And then I get a call. Hi, Carly. I'm here with Paul and Stuart. So Paul's the general manager. Stuart is the go-keep coach.

Just want to let you know that we won't be renewing your contract. And I was like, right then. What do I do now? Didn't see you coming at all. Oh, wow. So it was quite a shock and a mixed bag because obviously the first thing you feel is like quite angry. Yeah. I probably bitter in the fact that like I wasn't in her plans.

But this is the bit that like you say, it probably, turned me into the person that I needed to be. So I went and signed for, I got reunited with the Leeds Manager, who was then the Knott's County manager. So you franchised your way into the league at the time. So Knott's County, as much as people don't know much about them

and their men's team play in the lower leagues, they were quite ambitious in what they want to do with their women's team. So they employed Rick Passmore, who was my ex-leads manager. He got me to sign for Knott's County and I spent the next four years determined to make sure that I played my best against Emma Hayes

and Chelsea which I did I did not bad at but I never I never spoke badly about Emma I never I all shook her hand at the end of games I watched her build what she said she was going to recruit some amazing plays some amazing talent

and watch them rock up to Knott's County in lovely buses with kit men physios doctors some of the best players in the world that she'd signed but made sure like you say I did my best to play well again them. Obviously, got reunited in the first FA Cup final at Wembley, when we played against Chelsea, lost 1-0 to a G. So a young goal. And then, yeah, I guess you could call it fate,

maybe, but like you say, you have to franchise into the league. And when Knox County got sold to a new owner, he decided they didn't want a women's team. So we were about a week out from starting the season. And this is when it flipped from, so again, to some of the Chelsea fans who are maybe knew to the women's team. The women's league actually used to play through the summer. So we used to play because we didn't, the FA kind of wanted to find a ways, are we competing against men's football and women's football? So we used to play February to November and then decided to switch it back to mirror the men's season. And so during that time when they switched it back, we had a spring series it was called. So obviously we'd have a year off while

they switched it back. And this mini season ran, I think it was like March to June, something like that. And a week before we started that mini spring series we basically all got told we were made redundant at Knox County because the women's team is never going to exist anymore, which was great. So that was interesting. And then

three days later I get a call and it's Stuart, the goalkeeping coach. I mean, she would always stay friends because, yeah, we just always stayed in contact through England and stuff like that. He just always kind of checked into me. He says, right then, Carl's, like, what's happening? What are you doing?

the next three months, have you had any approaches? And I was like, no, me, I've pretty much got to work for the next few months, hoping someone's going to come. And he was like, and at the time, Becky, Spencer and Hedford Lindahl were the goalkeepers. And Frank Kitchen was a young goalkeeper. And Becky and Hedvig were injured. And they're about to start their season. So they're like, look, we haven't got a goalkeeper. Would you want to come play for Chelsea for the spring series for a couple of months? And I thought, I'm not going to jump at it because I don't want to sound desperate. So I'm just going to let me think about it, put the phone down. And I was like, oh my God, this is like the best thing ever. So let it sit for that

an hour. And I was like, nah, like, I picked the phone out. I said to you. I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm free. Like, when you probably sign is like, can you come down a train and like literally tomorrow? So I was like, I mean, I guess so. Yeah, like literally packed my bag. I just moved into a house and not an arm, whatever. And then all of a sudden I was like, just got a dog. Because again, I thought that was going to be my, I was just going to be at Notts County for the kind of the rest of my career. And it all changed very fast. So I literally packed my bags, got the dog looked after and drove down to London into Cobham, where I was, name was on a list, sent down to the first team building, which we had a building, which was

incredible, not a room, gets there. We need a kit man greets me. We have a kit man. I get in there. We've got a locker room, a gym. We're getting meals. I was just like, my mind was, was blown, like, obviously Emma Paul, Stewart all greeted me, like introduced me to everyone. I'm now sat in a room with some of the best players in the world, some of the girls that I'd also left three or four years ago. Obviously, like some of the youngsters that weren't youngsters anymore. But yeah,

it was just, it was my mind was blown by. Anyway, we went on to Wing the Spring Series and I got offered a two-year contract and I guess you could see the rest is history, but yeah, it was a whirlwind but I guess I could say, call it fake, call it whatever, but

I end up being back reunited with Emma, growing up lot and yeah sure more I could I could really do. I guess it also is a testament to the maturity that you handled a very business-like decision because Emma has to make some decisions and at that time when she released you, I'm sure it wasn't personal. It was just she had this game plan and you could have been really bitter and maybe burnt your bridges but it was also your mentality to go okay I'm going to always shake your hand and I'm going to be brilliant

every time I play against you that is a maturity isn't it yeah it is and it's look I'd like to think out of anything I've always tried to be a good person I think that out of anything in life if you can treat people well shake their hand

smile like be polite I think that's something my mum always instilled I mean, is to be a good human, basically. I think that in any walk of life, any business you walk into, that's football, into a football dressing room, into a business, into an office, like, it's being a good person. And there are going to be decisions that are sometimes out of your control and not always what you want or see you come in.

But I don't think that should turn you into someone that you want. And yeah, I just, I didn't think I'll pass would cross again other than playing against each other. But they did. And I think Emma always said to me, she was like, knew I'd bring you back one day and that's what she always said to me and whether that's true or not. But I think she always knew that if I'd go away and probably work hard on the things she wanted me to that we'd be kind of reunited along the way somehow. So yeah, I'm very blessed

to have that and whether it's a maturity, whether it's just trying to be a good, a good human and a good person every day is it's probably a bit, maybe a bit of both. But I truly believe that being able to do that has probably allowed me to, one, go back to playing football, but maybe two, lead on to maybe the job role that I do now as well. So, yeah, it's, and also, I always say it's a little bit of luck, right place, right time. Well, a bit of a look. Yeah, okay. A sprinkling of luck, but it's very good. Millie, I think, had a similar thing where she said Chelsea came knocking and she said no. And I'll say, what? They only come knocking once. And she was like, I know, they came looking twice for me so I was lucky

exactly so sometimes there is a bit of luck yeah and sometimes say nor like having a bit of like like see is it do you say no to Chelsea so is it just like sometimes it's not you're not ready and it's not meant to happen yet either so it's yeah and I think a pair of us have probably had some decisions go away and made the right decisions along the way which has led to where we are now but it's yeah it's yeah

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Talking of this second spell, you won so much as a player in it. Let's talk about just how much of a winning machine the club was at that time. Yeah, I was fully aware when I ventured into that dressing room for my first game, one who I was sat in amongst, which was a lot of winners already in there. And then two, what was installed within that group and why people were there. Yes, you can argue some probably came to experience living in London, but most people came to win trophies. And that is why you sign for this club. You get the benefit of living one of the best city in the world, of course. Can't really argue that you come here for the climate. Maybe it's really. Yeah. But other than that, that's why you come to Chelsea. You get to

play for the best club in the world and be part of, like you say, this winning juggernaut that is supported by some incredible people, incredible fans. It's a club that is built on a blue heart and a blue way of living. And like you say, you sign for this club and you hopefully sign with a blue pen because you're about to bleed blue for the rest of your time. And that's how it is. Like the club embraces you, the fans embrace you and they will for the rest of your time. Like even now, it's like, Kylie, Chelsea Legend, whatever.

And I'm just like, I don't really know how that happened. I do in terms of like, because I played for this club. But it's like, they just embrace you so much because you've brought so much joy to so many people. And that's what this club is. It's, it's, it brings people look forward every weekend. And I guess you can argue weeknights at the minute, the about games of girls and the lads have got. It's just that people look forward to watching you guys play and walk out on that pitch and representing this team. And, yeah, it's just a, it's just an incredible.

club to be part of and it's it's you don't realize until you step out of this country how big the club actually is and how global it is and um especially the girls now I think the way women's football's changed and evolved they're they're literally global superstars we went to like say morocco and and some of the the guys who were working in the hotel was so excited to meet some of the girls and said that they followed them on instagram and blah and i'm like not why obviously i know why because they're incredible they're incredible team and incredible humans but at the same time you're thinking, this is mad, because it literally felt like we'd arrived with, like, a men's theme, like, and they were just superstars because they just, they understood

them, they knew them, they knew who they were, who they played for, who their countries were, like, said, some of them said they picked them on EFA to play on FIFA, and you're just like, this is mental, like, but it's just part of the, of the brand, um, of, of, of working for this incredible club. And yes, you can argue it's a turbulent time, but what club hasn't had it's turbulence. It's like this is just part of our, I guess, re-identity as a club. And also it's going to happen when Emily is the growth of women's sport, the growth of the men's game and the men's team transitioning. It's just, but it's also like hugely exciting as to where we can take both parts of the club and as well as the academy and how we make it and

take it back to this kind of superpower with the women's team who have continued to be successful, but also for the men's team that are going through that transition period. It's a super exciting part. Yeah, I think with the men's team, we've seen it happen at Arsenal. We've seen it happen at United. We're seeing it happen with so many different clubs. So it's not anything new. It's just not ideal when you're the fan base and you're like,

I just want to keep winning all the time. That's all you're used to, right? So like all we're used to is just winning, right? So it's like, how do you then justify that when you're not winning? Like, who are we? What is this team about? how do we justify ourselves? What do we stand for?

What is the brand of Chelsea if we're not winning? This is a fantastic brand that is so central to the heart of London, but has this hugely successful global aspect about it as well. And it's so culturally within football itself and the years and years of not just winning that it's been kind of built on. And it's helping fans understand that bit and really buy into it. And I think that if we can do that now and then build our success again, both men's and women's.

It'll be something so much to be proud of about this club that we don't really talk about and I'm hoping that we can do that more and by doing things like this and letting fans into kind of the insight of who we are as people as footballers but also I guess now I'd sit on the other side

is how those things and how we feel as a business where we can take this club that's the most exciting bit for me and to still be part of of leading this kind of us on this new job. journey.

But yeah, going back to football, yeah, being part of the women's theme is, yeah, it's just an, it's just an amazing, amazing group of people

to be part of as staff and as a player. And this part of the season, it's the roughest part because you eat, sleep and breathe it, you don't get a break. It's great because we're in

every competition, which is incredible, but you are literally, you can't lose a game, it doesn't exist, because that usually means you're either lost a trophy, or you've lost the league

and that's just how it is. You literally get up, you go to training, you go home, you're probably watching Netflix, you chill out, you pack your bag because you've got a game

in two days, you're traveling, you empty your bag, you come home, you do your laundry, you're in your family, you go to sleep, you work training,

and that's it for the next two months and then hopefully I'm going to picking up trophies. Compared to back then when it was wake up, go to my call centre job and then. Yeah, no, it was.

Yeah, it's a, but again, like you wouldn't change, for the world. And I remember speaking to the guys in the office about it, about this period in the season. I think it was two weeks. And I think Man City, we're in two semifinals. We were in two finals. And there was an important game in the middle. And city ended up losing those two finals. And like, literally in those two weeks, I remember being sat on the bus and coming back

from Mancine, I think we'd lost our drone. And we were like, we've lost the league. We had another, we had Champions League midweek. And we were like, just need to get through it. And literally in those two weeks, it's like you can be in everything or out of everything. And that was it in like two weeks. Your whole season, you've been. going since end of July. So you've been going for like eight months

and in two weeks you're in everything and then out of everything and that's how like brutal it is but also that's the most exciting time because if you're still

in everything the happy days if you're if you're a manse at that time I'll speak about them but like it was kind of probably like well what are we doing now

we've just got leaked folks on so yeah it's a it's brutal but it's also why you come to this club so you just find touching you drag each other

through it yeah I mean it's weird you can't really imagine that an athlete you work so much for such a short period of time. I remember working on the athletics and I thought that some of these athletes, you've got the World Championships and then you've got the Olympics. And if something happens or if that particular run or jump or whatever it is goes wrong, it's just so brutal.

And yeah, I guess the games. And that is for it's like the fine margins are incredible. And we're lucky that we get another go-day. Like you say, like, athletics, Olympics or like that one moment for a medal. But then it's even when you look at like the Euros or the game on Sunday, like one moment, like if that ball goes in off the post, if that miss hits someone, if it takes a deflection, if it doesn't like just all those little things, the way the ball rolls sometimes. Like it's all about moments and that is what makes elite sport like the purest form to watch

and the most exciting thing. And it is about marginal moments when you get to the top because every dresser. and the lesson room are stacked with international players. Everyone's doing, everyone's training, everyone's doing the hard work, but it's those moments in games that sometimes it's the role of the ball, it's the look, it's the whatever, or it's just, who was just ready for it more on the day. And you can't put your finger on it. A bit of luck, exactly.

And that's, that's all it is. It's just, but that's why we also play like the most amazing game in the world for me, because it's, it's a season long slog, but I tell you what when it comes to the end of the season and you're sat with three and four trophies like it is the best feel in the world and we all look at each other after we've torn each other new ones every month and every week and fought and battled each other and cried and held each other and all these times because again like where people as well there's so much happens in a season nobody knows about yeah no one knows about like the difficulties of the girls moving from abroad and i mean we did the

COVID times and some of the girls didn't get home for like 18 months to see their families and all this other stuff that's going on in the background you just like see the girls for 90 minutes and and that's what we judge them on but I'm like all this of this stuff and then it comes to the end of the season and the tears and the laps and whatever just all becomes worth it when you've got those things that you set out

at the beginning of the year to do that you can finally look back and see it was worth it it was worth it. Well Fran actually talked to us about some of the celebrations after a big win and you've touched on that as well are there any particular nights

that stand out for you after winning a trophy that you just think oh my gosh that will go with me forever that I'll take that to my grave. I loved it. There's a few to be fair. I think my first FA Cup was one of my favorite ones. Just because I'd been so close, it was like my third attempt at winning the FA Cup. And I find, and I think it's my favorite one as well because it was, it was like the first trophy I got to lift in front of my parents as well. And actually, I lifted the trophy in

me, I think it was me fifth. And then I lost my mum in July. So she actually got to see me lift it before I lost her as well, which was like incredible because I guess if you're a parent and all you've wanted to see your kid is be successful or like follow their dreams or fulfill their dreams, whatever it was like, I guess she finally got me to see me do that, which was obviously insane. And then I just remember the party after that, which was very, very, very fun. But yeah, we've had some incredible nights after games. And I guess probably some of my favorite ones were like Champions League nights as well, like where we first ever beat Wolfsburg or first ever beat by Munich who would be beat off time after time after time or first

qualified into a semi-finals or a quarter-finals for this club. Like those are the nights I think I'll remember the most because also not to sound brutal but kind of not many people knew who we were either. So when we went on a night out or we got given the keys to a hotel room to just go and have a good time or Paul decided to put his card behind the bar and we could just have a great night, the next morning when we were all hung over and going back, flying back on easy jet or whatever flights we were put on because we didn't have a game that weekend.

Like nobody knew who we were. No one took pictures. No one judged us. We just kind of put our shades on, got on our easy jet flight went home and were able to just be hung over and no one cared. Whereas now I think because I'd feel a little bit more careful. And also a lot of them fly home privately straight after the games now and they usually have a game in the next three or four days. But I think because we had like, not that it wasn't as serious, but there wasn't as many games. I think we had more time to kind of

have these like miniature blowouts throughout the season where we could really celebrate. trophy wins, whereas now I feel like the girls probably don't get it until the end of season because of how many national caps they have, camps they have, how many trophies are on and how many games they play, which is probably so much more now than what they ever did. So I think for me, those memories that I'll hold on to, and I've still got a lot of videos and photos that maybe one day I'll put out into the public about how much fun we had on the buses and off flights and in hotel rooms. But yeah, it was just, I think I'm very grateful for being able to live in that kind of

dual space where it was so important to us because it was such a big game and such a big moment, but also, I guess, media and stuff wasn't as intrusive so we could kind of enjoy ourselves a little bit more. Yeah, I think you, I think you are in a special place because you, you have seen the before and you have seen the now, which is, it is really, it is just really different. Not many people, you know, most people are coming into what it is now. They're coming into the spotlight, they're coming into being taken photographs off, they're coming into the social media and everything, the complexities that that brings. Before we move on to your role now, and I've loved all your favourite moments, I want to get a bit more of an insight on Emma and her

team talks and what she's like on a day to day. Because I'm guessing that she's just an array of different colours and moods on different days. Absolutely. And I think the beauty about Emma is that it's a constant evolution with her. Every year, every preseason there was something different. So we always kind of knew, like we've come in for preseason, we're like, what podcasts does she listen to, what books has she read, which philosophers has she dove into,

and what kind of craziness is she going to bring into preseason? One, like, I think her ambition to, to treat us as women was like the biggest eye opener for me I think forever in a day we just as female athletes we just expected to be

like you don't know what you don't know so we didn't know any different in terms of how maybe we should be as female athletes so we just kind of went along with whatever we were told but I think her ambition and drive to treat us as female athletes and not small men was probably my biggest

thing that she drove year on year whether that's bringing in a menstrual doctor a sleep doctor like really delving into like sports science and how do we how do we make it different it's not just about everyone doing S&C the same way we're all different athletes different women we're all different sizes and playing different positions and need different strengths and have different weaknesses and it was all about like so when you get to elite levels it's all about percentages and she was constantly and is constantly always trying to find like how are we different and how do we use your differences to make you better

Not alike. It's a weakness. It's a, it's a betterment. And I just loved that about her and our staff was probably, I don't know, about six or seven when I first joined Max, including behind the scene staff. And I think, oh God, I think it's about 25 or 30 now. And they all have such intricate roles around the team, whether that's nutrition, sports science, pelvic floor, sleep, menstrual cycle, analysis, data collection, all this stuff that is, again, goes on behind the scenes, but it just builds this kind of juggernaut of like, professionalism. There's not one storm that's not turned by her. Like she wants to know everything and how we can get the best out of every single person. And then also, I guess, just treat us as humans. But I do think that's, I think that's so interesting that you said there. We didn't know how to be treated as female athletes. And that was the thing that you, you learned from her. Because it is true, you know, we have cycles every month. We have hormones. We are different to men. It's just the way that it is. And that needs to be treated in a different way.

My job allows me to use my voice, but I don't have to be physically at my top every single day. And, you know, there's certain times a month where I just want to stay in bed. I just want to, you know, it's just because that's what happens. We go through a cycle. It's why it's called a cycle. And some of it's so brutal on the players. I remember my roommate at England was Laura Bassett

was my teammate at Chelsea for a short period of time as well but my England roommate for about two or three years and I remember like at the time we used to we used to share rooms at England and some days the alarm would go off and I'd be like but I'm all right and she'd be like no room you like you need to tell doctor like can't she just didn't she had such a bad migraine she just couldn't train that day

so like you think we're on England camp we got two qualifiers at the time Bass was starting and sent half, like very, very incredible player. And she's like, oh, can't, can't move. And like, you just like, it just never got like, no one, like, not everyone spoke about it. Doctor would come in, make sure she's all right, whatever, but just kind like, expectations to just like crack on two paracetam all, get on the pitch. Everything will be all right.

But you don't also know what kind of risks you're putting yourself, the team and your body in by yourself to do those things either. So yes, it's the physical and, but then there's the mental aspects as well. So it's how do we create those spaces where one, the girls feel comfortable enough to talk about them, but also then how do we help? Is that through diet? Is it through nutrition? Is it through medication?

Is it through, like, I know Beth England spoke a lot about having to go and look at her endometriosis. There's also more things that you think you're just dealing with as a female and they're okay to deal with and everybody's dealing with. But actually like, no, you've actually got something that needs treated. Like, so like there's these other things that I think until you delve deeper into the athlete themselves and into the human so that they're comfortable enough to talk about it, that it is something more than just kind of,

it's not, it's a normal to have an old. period but then there's other strands around that then it's how do you also then help that person feel be able to come train in terms as the best athlete every day and best footballer um so yeah it's then then their moments are huge and i think that's how she she operates she comes up these mad things like uh what was the thing if it's not broken break it which we didn't really understand i think we've come off the back of winning a double or treble the season before and come in and it was like it's not broken let's break it and we're like what does that mean completely tore up everything we'd done the season before, like had this brand new philosophy that we went on to

with got beat like every single game. I think it was like four nil off buying, five nil off Montpellian, three and off someone else. And everyone was like, well, it's definitely broken. Good luck for the rest of the season. And then we went on to win a double again. So it worked. But yeah, she's just, I think one currently that's in the training ground is what didn't get us here, won't get us there. Or didn't get, yeah, something like that. It's like literally on the walls you walk in. And it's just those constant reminders of like, we can't stand still like you just can't like as a football team you look at even if the men's a peps the arsenal like every year like how do they win how do they keep winning how do they even though

they're really good teams like they have to adapt because every team goes away and looks at them and thinks how do you beat this theme what they're doing different how do we stagnate them who beat them last year what did they do did they sit in a low block mid block to be counter attack on them is it set pieces of weaknesses so we're having to constantly evolve so that when we come to the season year after there is something different about us or we can adapt to the next game the next time we play off the next time we'll please sit you whatever it is there's a small adaptation whether it's a personnel change or a tactical change so you're sure because played in multiple positions how do you handle that as an opposition as a manager like what do you do so I think she's

just very clever at doing those things and never wanting to sit still um I think I'm going to miss seeing that next year but I guess you get to see that as a different way in terms of what she's about to do with the US national team. But yeah, I think I'll miss that. I'll miss her sitting and where I'm sitting now on these press conferences. Yeah. I think everyone will in her personality

and what she brings, how she's challenged numerous parts of the game from the referees to the stadiums, to the pitches, to the way we treat the players, the staff, how the WSL and the FA are treating teams and players. Like, I think she's just always challenging the bar

and always putting herself in these probably uncomfortable, on compromising positions, but knowing that it's hopefully for the great good of the game and this team. Well, it just, I think it comes across from everything that you said.

It's incredibly powerful to have a leader that, especially coming from the two spells that we touched on earlier, where you've seen the growth of the game. So you probably do start off being like, I've got a headache, but it's fine, or I've got my period, and it's fine, whatever. Or I've got endometriosis, or whatever it is.

And you're like, just ignore it, keep my head down. Let's keep going. because you know what the men don't complain so we've got to be this certain way and having a leader that's like okay let's bring someone in to analyze our cycles let's bring someone in to be a specific part of nutrition let's bring someone in to look at this and so suddenly you're like actually we're women so we need to be treated differently it gives you that voice it it do you think it's shaped possibly your personality and or maybe not personality but it's shaped certain aspects of your

mentality that you may be taken into your new role? Has it transcended you as a player? And I think it has everyone. I'd like to think when they probably leave this club and whatever they're going to next. Like one, I think being part of a team or playing any sport in a team when you leave a team environment and go into like another team, because that's what I always say now, like even though I have an individual title, I still work in a team. So I'm very passionate about making sure that every member of my team that. I work with feels important because that was something that to be successful, I feel like every person, whether it was at England or whether it was at Chelsea, like when we turned around

and looked at the end of the season, every person played their part. It doesn't, didn't matter how big or how small that was. Of course, you've got Samco's, the top goal score and the goal keep, maybe keep the clean sheets and the captain or whatever, but then there was all those people that played those roles where they were subs, they were, the people that grinded every day so the first teams could get rested, the, let's start 11 could get rested and whatever. all those like intricate bits but I think that yeah like taking some of what shaped me as I guess an amateur to semi-pro professional footballer and all those experiences around that and the people that were part of my journey and part of my life and everyone was such a big part

of that and don't get me wrong like it's not that Emma doesn't hasn't made mistakes or bad decisions or whatever I'm sure she'll she can elaborate on those things as well eventually or like should I've done this better or could have said that better like She's not perfect person, but there's so many good things about her and her being our manager for such a long period of time, not just her trophies, but how she's developed us all personally challenged us, picked us up. Like I say, when I lost my mom, God, she was incredible for me, like, and she has been for so many of us that have either lost someone or gone through a tough time or had to battle through things, whether it's injury or personal issues. Like, she's been there for us as, and you forget as well, like, when you become a football, and you move away from your family like this this team becomes your family

your staff members become like your mom's your big sister your dads your cousins your uncles however you want to treat them because you lean in on them like Stuart was a huge part of my career my goalkeeping coach like he had to unfortunately four of us women he has to deal with on a daily basis and all of our own personal stuff that comes with that but he treats us all with such dignity and such passion that I think that you always want to give your best for him

and I think that's with Emma is like no matter what was going on when you cross that white line like you just want to fight for the badge and fight for her. Because you know somewhere along the line, she's had to do that for you. So, yeah, I think that she has probably had a huge effect on me as a person. I think this club has. I think the people that I've worked with day and day out as players have as well. Like I said, I was in earlier in the podcast.

Like I'm just so lucky to have come across so many people, so many intelligent people and had some really amazing conversations about different things in life, different cultures, different ways to live and different ways of integrating within different groups of people and understanding and having to understand being a starter, being of sub, being left out of a squad. Like it just builds you into who you are now, I guess. So, yeah, I think she's played a massive role in my life personally. And yeah, I'm very blessed to have had, I guess, a leader and I'd say probably now I'm a friend.

So, yeah. Oh, I love that. I feel like you don't know. I mean, why wouldn't you go deep? Let's talk about your new role now. For anyone who doesn't know, what is your new role? And can you tell us a little bit more about what it entails on a daily basis? Yeah, of course. I think the fans think I'm in charge of everything, which is very beautiful and all goes really well. And everyone thanks me on Twitter. But I am actually a small part of a smaller team, I'd say. We're not a huge team. But I, my official title is commercial manager, women's commercial manager, but I sit across, not just the women's team, I sit across some of the men's stuff as well, because obviously when we bring in new partners and brands, they're not always just the women's only ones. So we sit across joint things. But my job effectively is to, I mean, if you want to put it bluntly, I'm a salesperson, which is quite boring. So I like the title better. But my job is to sell this club and sell this amazing team to amazing brands and partners to come in and invest and keep, um, us being able to be the best and that's whether we invest it back into the facilities,

back into the players, back into our academies. That's effectively what my job is. But I think basically our directors are Al-Qudsey and Nadia, she is our head of hospitality and ticket. And that's kind of the three-person women's team, that's three of us. But we have slowly dragged multiple people from different departments who sit across the whole club, from marketing to socials to comms. into a wider team that now looks after what we hope to be.

And my personal goal is to make this the best commercial team in the world and the most successful. And that's mine and Zara's kind of a Nadia's big ambition. And we know that's going to take time. We know we are a little bit behind the curve in this country. And Barcelona are in terms of commercial terms and tickets. in and just behind Arsenal. But we are doing good things.

It's just going to take time. And we just need the fans to be a little bit patient with us, but we are loving their enthusiasm. We love that we're being challenged. We love that they have questions. We love that we want them to be involved in this journey. We know without the fans, the club is nothing. It is that is what the foundation of any successful team is built on.

And now it's just about understanding how we take them on this journey with us. So as much as we bring, and these amazing partners, how do we get them invested in it, get them part of it, get them to feel that we are constantly investing back into the team with amazing players, with good staff,

with amazing experiences when they come to the ground. And I think we demonstrated, we knew we were going to build this year, hopefully to the Arsenal game, which was our last official league game at Sanford Bridge. And we wanted that to be a really big kind of show of what it's taken us eight months to do, but eight months is,

We're about 18 months behind Arsenal in what they're doing. So if this is the start of where we're going, I think it's a good sign. And we're hoping that Barcelona will demonstrate. Hopefully we can get a sell out for that. We'll be really, really key for us. I think we're leading women's only commercial partners in the league. So we're doing good on that front.

But yeah, we just want to constantly demonstrate to fans that we understand, we hear them, tick it in, all that kind of stuff where we are reassessing as well. So it's not like we don't hear those. conversations. We've made sure we've had numerous forums with the fans, some of the major groups that have been with us since the beginning, my time, way back when. And having constant contact with them as to how they feel, how are the group feeling, how are the fan base is feeling, how do we get more people to the games? How do we make it the best experience? How do we make them feel valued for giving us their time, their money, their effort to get to games? But it just

take time. You can't just pull 4,000 people from King's Meadow and turn it into 40,000 people at Stamford Bridge overnight. We know we've got a legacy to build and yeah, it's getting there and quietly confident that hopefully this time next year, we will be filling Stanford Bridge regularly. And yeah, it's more hard work than what I thought it was going to be. If I'm honest, yeah. I think I thought, I think it's quite naive as a player and I've had to go in, unfortunately, have numerous conversations with the players because the players ask the same question why are arsenal selling out why aren't we doing it we're the most successful team we've won the most trophies like why can't we and i'm like guys i'm with you because i was asking the same questions

like when i was sat next to you but it honestly isn't as easy as that and that's not a cop out that's just like it's a it's building a brand it's building a team internally that can talk about those things to the people that sell the club and brand the club and all that kind of stuff it's just there's a multitude of of things we need to build on to make it happen and i've sat in with Arsenal who have been building this for a lot longer than we have. And it's understanding how they position themselves, how they did it. And this is another thing I think is that we want to make the sport successful. It's not about Arsenal setting records constantly week after week.

It's about how do we make sure everyone is filling their stadiums? Everyone is coming on this journey that women's football is just, we're not speaking about the crowds anymore because it's just normal. Like we're filling stadiums. That's how it should be. It's people should want to come and watch these amazing. athletes, these amazing women, represent an amazing brand. And they're fierce, they're feisty, they're athletic, they're creative, they're just,

they're a joy to watch and it's a joy to be part of. And we just want people to understand that and fill the stadiums and make noise for them and keep elevating the game to where it should be. And I have no doubt that our fan base will do that. From all over the world, we get support and just we've got to create that now in the in London and make people want to come to the stadium, have a great time, but also support like they did against Arsenal, which was, and I don't know if any of the girls have said it,

but after that game, I got so many messages from the players being like, car, that was the most amazing atmosphere. We, like, it is the percentages that gets them over the line, those difficult moments when Arsenal were starting to crank the pressure up and the noise from the Arsenal way it was getting a bit loud. Our fans were straight on top of them and their noise just elevated. Then it made the girls dig a bit deeper, made them do that extra. And it does make such a big difference to you on the pitch.

And it's like, I always wanted the girls to be like, tell, tell the fans yourself. Because I'm like, I want you them like, and they have done. They have been putting it out. Like, we know how important the fans are to making a difference to the team. Yeah. And yeah, it's important for us to make sure we are getting fans in and giving them them extra. Like I say those small percentages that make a difference and fill in that stadium is one of them. And I'd like to think that Barcelona is coming up in the next few weeks.

not only are you going to get to see two of the best teams in the world go with each other with incredible incredible athletes and footballers but you're hopefully going to be in one of the best atmospheres this season will have had when you come to Stamford Bridge and I'm going to make sure that whatever we have going on that day it will be hopefully a highlight of the year not just for our club but hopefully all over the world to see well because you've seen the growth of the sport on and off the field

and we've talked about this kind of the two parallel universes that you've lived in. How do you think your view of the game has differed from your current role and being a player? And I guess is there a part of you that wishes you spent more of your career playing in this growth phase of the women's game? Although we did talk about the pros that you can get an easy jet fight after celebrating all night.

Yeah, no, I did, I've been asked this a lot, like, especially when, like, at the Arsenal game or when we've met brands and partners, they're like, do you not, do you not wish you were still playing in this? Like, whether it was the Tottenham or Man United game, I'm like, no. I honestly don't. And that's not just me saying it because I can say it. It's me being honest. Like, I loved my career.

Like, I had the best time with some of the best memories. And I just don't know if I had enjoyed it as much as I did if I was living in it now. I think it's very difficult to not do both, but yeah, to have. a life of I'm not a normal person that's the wrong thing to say a non-athlete or a non

I mean not a celebrity I think that's the thing the girls lives have changed they're not yeah they're not footballers just footballers anymore sorry they're celebrities and footballers so that's a lot more to carry than just going and playing football

and then going home and going to the local pub or going to see your mates or going at the supermarket not to say the girls don't do that but it's actually quite difficult to just do and not be judged as to who you with or where you're eating

or how many drinks you have it and what's in the cork? Is it, is it just coke or is it cork and vodka or whatever you're having, how many nights is that before kickoff or all that kind of stuff that I'm like, I couldn't, I don't think I could do that very well. Like I said, I do enjoy my life and I got to live kind of parallel and sit between the two. But that's not to, and the girls have amazing lives, they do. But I just, I think that I couldn't exist in that, in that space.

I'm very grateful that I get to sit outside of that and help the girls navigate that now. But to see the growth and just to see the people with like the girls' names on their shirts and like, and we're not just talking about like young girls and women. We're talking about like men and boys and girls and women and LGBTQ and just these huge diverse fan base that we've now got, which is incredible. Like, and I'm just so grateful that we've been able to create this kind of amazing safe space for so many different people to come and enjoy, which again, I'll say it again, the best for in the world.

And I think that's what I'm so proud of when I stand up in one of the boxes, if I'm hosting and working, I just look around at the diverse group of people that are around and how much fun they're having and how much joy that they're getting out of coming and watching Chelsea or whoever we're playing or both teams. And it's just you see them when we win and even when we lose the conversations they're having and the players that they're passionate about and they're talking about tactics or how much fun they had or what we can do better and I'm like that is incredible like it's not just people who know these girls they have they follow them because they just think they're incredible

athletes and it's an incredible team and yeah I guess as as footballers that's all we've wanted we've never wanted to be classed as female footballers we've just wanted to be classed as footballers like that's all we do we just turn up put our boots on our kit represent an amazing club and go and do what we do and I know the line has had such an impact on that for the first time ever I felt like gender wasn't a thing. It was just, are you going to watch the England game? Are you going to watch them play against Sweden? Are you going to watch the final? No one spoke about. Are you going to watch the women's football? I'm going to watch England women play tomorrow. It was just like, are you going to watch the England? Are you going to watch England play?

And like that is all we've ever wanted. Like if you just remove gender from it, like it's 11 players, including the subs and the staff, who are just passionate about winning a game of football for this club or for this country. And I think that's what there's been a huge change in the past few years. think the lioness has really helped with that. But it's taken time and there are some people out there who still don't agree with it and they will get left behind, which is unfortunate for them. But the ones that are coming on the journey will enjoy themselves very much, I feel like. Oh, Carly, I mean, I could chat to you all night. I think I've still got about 50 questions that haven't got through that I would love to know. So I'll have to get you back on because I know that you are a busy

woman with your sales and your deals and all the partnerships coming out your ears. Thank you so much for joining us on We Are Chelsea. We've absolutely loved it. Thank you. It's been my absolute pleasure. And, yeah, I hope that everyone enjoyed it. And hopefully I'll see a lot to you at the bridge against Barcelona very soon. Thank you for listening to We Are Chelsea.

The official podcast of Chelsea Women brought to you in association with Skoda, the official car partner of Chelsea women and proud supporters of women's sport. During the course of this series, we'll be speaking in depth to more of Chelsea's top players. and we'll also be bringing you all the post-match reaction to the biggest games with the players themselves. So remember to subscribe, give us a review and send in your questions to We Are Chelsea at chelseafc.com. See you next time.