Inspiration. It’s a weird thing, isn’t it? Lots of people find inspiration in sports figures or broadcasters they admire, and this week I got the massive privilege to talk to someone who I admire hugely for her efforts in both these fields. As a footballer, Izzy Christiansen needs no introduction to those who follow the women’s game – with 300 pro games playing for some of the best teams in Europe, a domestic and international title winner and having represented her country nearly 50 times, including winning an age-group Euros for England in 2009, she has a glittering CV many in the game will envy. Since retiring as a footballer in 2023, she’s forged a path in broadcasting, becoming known for her eloquent and incisive punditry and analysis on both the men’s and the women’s game for national broadcasters both in the UK and abroad.
So when the EFL were looking for someone to help inspire the next generation of women’s footballers, specifically those playing in the Utilita Girls Cup Final at Wembley next month, they couldn’t have picked anyone better. Izzy visited one of the Utilita Girls Cup Finalists, Sandbach High School in Cheshire, not far from where she grew up in the village of Rainow near Macclesfield, and I got the chance to talk to her for S71 about going back into schools, what it’s like scoring at Wembley, and the importance of being a role model for the next generation.
Paul: Hi Izzy! Today you’re visiting a school near where you grew up before their trip to Wembley – what’s the visit all about?
So, the visit is to the Sandbach girls football team, who have qualified to play in the finals at the Utilita Girls Cup in Wembley on the 13th of April. So I’ve just surprised the team, who have been out on the grass having a training session. I joined in for a little bit, and then we had some photos together. We’ve just had a whole school assembly where we spoke about my career and some of the opportunities for girls in football growing up now. And, yeah, it’s been a really nice afternoon.
You had plans to be a teacher if you weren’t a footballer, so what’s it like walking into a school as a pro footballer to address a class and take a session?
Exactly. It’s an interesting turnaround. And I think it’s probably more of a sign of how hard work and resilience and a “Never Give Up” attitude can lead you to different avenues in life. And like that, I was preparing for a career in something else because women’s professional football was never a dream that existed when I was these girls’ age.
I was lucky in that I grew up at a very good time in terms of turning professional in 2014 for Manchester City, and that ended up being my job there for the remainder of my career. So yeah, it’s quite a pinch me moment. But I always really enjoy coming back to schools because of the impact that you can have on physical education, and girls in particular.
You mentioned that when you were growing up perhaps being a women’s pro footballer wasn’t really something girls could aspire to, so who were your idols growing up, and how important is for kids today that there are events like this for them to look up to?
Well, I used to be very engrossed in football.
Frank Lampard was my sort of footballing idol. Loved the way that he played football for Chelsea. And there were other female role models, but more prominent ones that were not in football, like, for example, Kelly Holmes was a was an idol of mine, just because she was a strong, resilient, athletic female. So now, obviously, the girls growing up in football, I’ve got this opportunity to see sort of England playing. You see the WSL, see stars that play in that league, and maybe I was one of them, for them as well. But yeah, it’s, it’s incredible, the uprising in the game, and having those sorts of female role models now is something very important for young girls growing up.
The girls are going to play at Wembley, and it’s obviously a huge thing for anybody. For them, you’ve obviously played there. You’ve scored there. So how do you describe something like that? How important is it that the Utilita Girls Cup can give girls this opportunity?
It’s just surreal (Izzy laughs). I was at Wembley last night working on the men’s game, and it’s just a very intense sporting arena because of…just the pure size and magnitude of it. And you know, as a player, when you get out and play there, you always tend to look on the pitch before the game, because you need to just absorb the atmosphere and absorb the surroundings before you step out to actually play, because otherwise you’re going to be daunted out on the grass.
It’s such an exciting thing for these girls to experience playing in that stadium at such a young age. And you know, it might inspire the girls to then say, well, hang on a minute. I want to do this when I’m older, professionally, and I want to play at Wembley one day in a cup final or play for England. So it’s a pretty special thing that the Utilita Girls Cup can end with that sort of moment of teams playing at Wembley.
Obviously, as a player, you’re a role model, and you inspire girls that way. But also – certainly she’d never forgive me for mentioning this, but I know one of my colleagues was also at the Man City game recently and sent a message in our group chat, saying she was starstruck just being in your presence. You’re inspiring girls now as a broadcaster as well, very prominently on Sky and the BBC. So how important is it for you? And how does it feel to be a role model who can inspire girls to get into football, not just on the pitch, but off it as well?
I think the rise in the game and the growth of the game in this globally, but let’s talk about in the UK, is the fact that there’s now an increased number of jobs within the game that aren’t necessarily connected to just playing the game. You know, there’s coaching roles, administrative roles, so many wider roles now that are connected to women’s football that you’d never have even dreamt about. Obviously, one of those key things is for people to bring the game to life by broadcasting. And I am one of those people that, when I stopped playing, I think this was a huge kind of prerogative of mine, which was “I want to bring the game to life through my insight and knowledge, through the medium of broadcasting the game on radio and TV”.
So again, I’m very lucky. And I think Sky Sports’ coverage of the game is just impeccable. And that’s one of the reasons why I joined – the quality of their broadcast. I’m very proud to work for them, and I think they’re doing terrific things in the game. And I think it just goes to show that now, growing up, there might be an aspiring sports broadcaster in the room that I’ve just spoken to who wants to go and be a commentator, wants to go and be a journalist in football. So it’s very exciting how many avenues there are for these girls growing up now.
Finally, you’ve a coach now at Manchester City as well as working in the academy there. you’ve spoken about how excited you are and how committed Man City are to the academy. So what do you see for the future of girls and women’s football with clubs putting in loads more investment? Are you excited about it?
I’m so excited about it. I can speak from the Academy set up at Manchester City, and it’s such an incredible setup – I pinch myself working there now because of the investment and the facilities, and the resources that the players have access to now. And this is just at “one WSL club” level; if you transmit that around the country, and there are other professional girls academies who are doing terrific work on the grass every day, it is essentially the future of the game.
If we want the WSL to become a twenty-team league in the near future, within, say, the next 10 years, then the academy structure and setup is integral to supporting that vision. So it’s really incredible to see, you know, the appetite, and I still can’t believe how many girls play football now – the figures are just breathtaking. And I think that that is the future of the game. And it’s actually scary to think where the game could be going in the next five to ten years as well.
Well, you’re definitely a part of that and inspiring people to do it with things like the Women’s Cup and the things you’ve done today. So hopefully, you’re supporting the winning team as well (though I hope Courtney doesn’t hear me say that. Thanks so much for talking to us, Izzy!
Izzy was speaking to us ahead of the Utilita Girls Cup Final, which is taking place at Wembley on April 13th. You can find more information about it at eflinthecommunity.com.
