Embarrassingly, there were tears running down my face when I stepped into the roaring stands for England’s first match of the 2019 Women’s World Cup in Nice. Football is just a game, but for women players it is hard to disengage from the sexism and stresses that accompany it. Watching Nikita Parris flowing down the wing, smashing in a penalty at the 14th minute, then Ellen White’s initial offside goal being rewarded by the real deal: I know how hard their predecessors had fought for these moments of unadulterated joy.
The frenzy of press and promotion in the lead up to this year’s tournament was unprecedented. But Goal Click, a five-year-old social enterprise that sends disposable cameras to footballers around the world and then publishes the results online (alongside candid interviews), has been well ahead of the strike. Before the tournament, their cameras ended up in the hands of 18 international players, including England right-back Lucy Bronze, Jamaica defender Lauren Silver and USA midfielder Sam Mewis. All have captured the beautiful game in a singularly personal way.
Above: USA midfielder Rose Lavelle (on left) and forward/co-captain Alex Morgan in an ice bath, taken by teammate Sam Mewis: ‘I tried to show realistic parts of our lives. The bathrooms (not glamorous), the ice bath (cold as F), the bus (constantly travelling), Facetiming my husband’
Left: Selfie with Lyon Champions League shirt, taken by England star Lucy Bronze: ‘It’s match day against Chelsea, and I’m holding my shirt with its five badge on the arm because Lyon have won five Champions Leagues. It’s a cool reminder of the history that comes with playing for a club like mine’
Right: Lucy Bronze’s image of fellow Lyon players celebrating reaching the Champions League final, including (from left) Delphine Cascarino, Eugénie Le Sommer and Wendie Renard, who all play for the French national team
From the start, we have tried to represent the full diversity of the game,” says Goal Click co-founder Matthew Barrett. “Our second story was about an Indian girls football team in Mumbai.” Other projects have included the Homeless World Cup and the Single Leg Amputee Sports Association in Sierra Leone. “I have more interest in women’s football stories off the pitch because, quite frankly, they are deeper and more meaningful,” adds Barrett. The women’s game is known for its close friendships, and the photographs highlight these bonds, formed both at club and international level. “In the men’s game, I don’t think there is that same sense of camaraderie,” Barrett says. “You’re not best mates.”
Above: England and Manchester City forward Ellen White, taken by her then Birmingham City teammate Marisa Ewers: ‘Ellen was interviewed after our last home game at St Andrews. She’s been outrageous during her time at the Blues – top goalscorer in every season’
The photographs give an intimate view of life beyond the match-day theatrics. Chelsea players pile on to charter planes (the women’s game can’t afford private jets just yet); a Norwegian team play in the snow; and Australians warm up on the beach. There are messy boot rooms, selfies and “leg-fies” by stars such as France’s Eugénie Le Sommer. Mewis’s image of USA teammates Rose Lavelle and Alex Morgan staring up at the camera as they kneel in an ice water bath is a particular highlight for Barrett: “It really stood out as a photo that could only have been taken by a teammate.”
Left: Arsenal’s boot room, taken by Beth Mead, forward for England and Arsenal: ‘This is a little shed we keep our boots in. It shows how humble we are in the women’s game. We don’t need big flash things’
Right: Hedvig Lindahl, goalkeeper for Sweden and Chelsea, snaps her youngest son, Nathan: ‘My little boy stepping on to a plane [to a game]. Family is affected by our choice of career. The biggest sacrifice I’ve made is the relationships you have to say no to, like spending time with my 96-year-old grandmother’
With Thailand striker Miranda Nild as one of his contributors, her team’s brutal 13-0 loss to the USA was difficult to sit through; but surprisingly Barrett says he is glad it happened. “That scoreline is what used to happen in men’s football in the 1960s and 70s, before proper investment went into national sides.”
Above: Lydia Williams, goalkeeper for Australia, taken by her teammate, defender Steph Catley: ‘This sums up our team. We were heading into one of the biggest tournaments of our careers but we’re the same free-spirited bunch of Aussies we’ve always been. I lost my father suddenly last year. The unity and the family you develop are the most important part of it’
Every player featured on these pages hopes to inspire a new generation, and my favourite shot from Goal Click’s project is of a teenage grassroots player – Sushanti Kumari in India, a football balanced on her nose above a wide smile. These are the girls who will have been watching these past weeks – who will feel the way I did in the stands in Nice, watching England v Scotland, surrounded by women wearing kilts and covered in facepaint: inspired.
• To see more photographs from the project, visit goal-click.com
Above: Members of the USA team, including (from left) Ali Krieger, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Allie Long and Megan Rapinoe, in pre-tournament training in San José, California in May, taken by Kelley O’Hara: ‘Just 22 of my best friends getting ready for the biggest games of our lives. Football is the greatest sport on Earth. I hope the generations that come after I am done playing continue to push the sport forward’
Left: Goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl and defender Anita Asante, with other Chelsea players, boarding the plane to play in the Champions League semiifinal, taken by Ali Riley, defender for New Zealand and Chelsea: ‘We weren’t able to charter a private plane. It highlights the differences between us and the men’
Right: USA defender Kelley O’Hara’s shot of her legs (and ice packs) at training camp: ‘We put our bodies through hell and back’
Above: Brazil defender Monica and forward Kerolin playing Teqball, a hybrid of football and table tennis, taken by defender Tamires: ‘When I started playing football on the street, it wasn’t easy because I was always the only girl, so they sometimes didn’t let me play. I heard things like, “Football is for men” or, “Go and clean a kitchen.” Some years later I had a chance to move to São Paulo to start my career, and I did not think twice’
Left: Eugénie Le Sommer, France’s star striker, takes a picture of her foot on the ball
Right: Cecilie Kvamme, Norway and Sandviken defender, playing football cards with a teammate’s son, captured by fellow player Stine Hovland: ‘I am a pre-school teacher and work in a kindergarten. But before the World Cup, I got permission from work to focus on playing. I started when I was six and made my debut for the national team when I was 27 – many years of hard work before it paid off’
Above: Brazil squad members Letícia, Tamires, Kathellen and Luana before pre-World Cup training, taken by Aline Reis, their goalkeeper: ‘Through football I’ve met my best friends, earned a college and master’s degree, learned to speak other languages and seen the world through a new perspective. My hope is that after this World Cup, a lot more people will appreciate and support the women’s game’
Left: Trondheims-Ørn playing another top division Norwegian team, taken by Lauren Silver, who plays in defence there, as well as for the Jamaican national team: ‘Playing in the snow is really hard. My toes go numb, plus the ground is slippery. Opportunities to play in Jamaica are slim. But we are making huge strides on equal pay. We’ve just established contracts with the Jamaican Football Federation for the first time!’
Right: The Thailand squad at training, taken by Miranda Nild, also known as Suchawadee Nildhamrong: ‘I think we will help to inspire a new cohort of young women who want to play soccer, because they have seen people from their country go to a World Cup. My family understands my dream to play professional soccer but expect me to get a “real” job afterwards. That’s daunting’
Above: Córdoba CF teammates walk on to their home pitch, taken by Chile defender Fernanda Pinilla: ‘I started playing soccer at six and played with boys until I was 13, when I joined my first women’s team. We do not have professional football in Chile, so I had to move to Spain. I am fulfilling a childhood dream, but leaving my family has been very difficult’
