“A lot of them are overpaid drama queens in the male game”: tackling the world of sport as a woman with Cheltenham Town Ladies FC defender, Samantha Hallsworth.

“I’d throw in tackles and hurt them more than they’d hurt me!” Samantha tells us, explaining how she first got into playing football. She continues, “quite simply, my dad wouldn’t let me play Rugby. But then I got my teeth knocked out and a couple of bruises, so it’s near enough the same!” 

Samantha Hallsworth, defender for Cheltenham Town Ladies FC Women’s football has come extremely far in the world of sport, Samantha shares her opinions and experiences on how she handles playing for Cheltenham Town whilst juggling a full time job alongside, her preparations for a game, women’s representation in football, and ultimately, how Sammy will celebrate if they win the title at the end of this season.

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Working for Western Power after having an education surrounded by sports and graduating Hartpury University with a 2:1, Sammy expresses, “they don’t tell you when going to uni, what opportunities are out there when you leave.” she discusses. “I got headhunted by Western Power and it was the best decision I’ve ever made. I love dealing with people,” Sammy says with a smile on her face, highlighting her devotion and adoration for her job. 

One word to describe handling football and work? “Stressful.” Sammy instantly says without second thought. “It’s a lot. It’s over a 12 hour day. I train Tuesday through Friday, so as you can imagine, I’m quite emotional when I haven’t had eight hours of sleep!” she says, making light of her long days.

I’m a creature of habit. I prep the same for every game. Samantha Hallsworth, Twitter: @sammyhallsworth

“I hate training by myself.” Sammy admits. “I hate running. I have cheated a little bit, during COVID I attached the dog to me. Really quick time! He’s just turned one, he’s going through his teenage years at the moment, biting everything he can!” she confesses, giggling at her own quirks and her love for her golden Labrador, Loki.

Joining women’s football at only 15 years old and being thrown into the deep end playing for an under 18s team straight away, Samantha admits, “it was the most terrifying scenario,” and found it hard to avoid being distracted. “I was terrible. I get so frustrated at some of the kids on the team, but then I remember that I used to be the one being told to shut up. Now I’m a bit older, I have to set an example for them.” She says jokingly, ” I say we’re more experienced, but they call us old!”

“I’m a creature of habit. I prep the same for every game,” telling us about her routinely preparations. “On the morning of a game I have a spinach, ginger and apple smoothie; sounds gross. Really nice. Try it.” she advises. The finishing touch to her diet on a game day includes coconut water as it’s full of electrolytes to aid her performance and keep her energy levels high.

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Make Sammy’s go to green smoothie at: http://thecreeksidecook.com/apple-ginger-green-smoothie/

It’s clear to anyone that women in football are unrepresented in comparison to males. Sammy explains, “I do prefer watching the mens football because more people follow it, there’s a lot more competition than the women’s game,” she adds, “women’s football still has so far to go in terms of a following and having healthy competition between clubs. So I would choose to watch the Prem over the Super League.”

Passionately, Sammy portrays what it’s like being a woman in football. “It’s hard, because men are so well represented in social media, every other ad is about a footballer,” says Sammy. “The men very involved in Watford, a club I was involved in a few years ago. They are so immersed in their women’s side, they’ve got mannequins with the women’s shirts on and their names on the back. Some clubs are going above and beyond to involve the women and put them out there. And then there’s other clubs that need to up their game.”

“Cheltenham Ladies are very much a separate entity. We do a lot of our own advertising,” she expresses, “but the pay gap between men and women in football is appalling. If you look at the equivalent, men who are in the same tier as me, will probably be on semi professional contracts, some of them possibly borderline professional contracts, they might have a second job but most of them probably won’t. I suppose when you look at it financially, we’re not there.” Sammy acknowledges, expressing her devotion, anger and dedication to her sport. “Not in my lifetime do I think we’ll be on the same level as them. No way.”

“There’s a lot of players I don’t really like. A lot of them are overpaid drama queens in the male game!” Sammy confesses whilst deciding on her dream team. “My top favourite players would probably be Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Dirk Kuyt  Gianna and Fernando Torres. Mainly Liverpool players as I do support the red boys.”

“If we win the title?” she laughs, repeating the question. “I’ll celebrate with a bottle of Champagne to myself! I’ve never won a title in my career, so I’ll probably have a bottle of champagne, get wasted, book the next day off work and then retire!”