Women’s Super League

FARA WILLIAMS revealed she has been battling a kidney condition for almost a year.
The England legend required a kidney biopsy before she was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome.

Reading ace Fara Williams was diagnosed with a Kidney condition called nephrotic syndromeCredit: Instagram / @fara44

Williams is England’s most capped women’s player with 170 appearancesCredit: Getty Images – Getty

The condition is caused by an excess leak of protein from blood into urine, and can lead to swelling in the legs and ankles.
Williams, 37, first noticed something was wrong after she had an operation to reattach the muscle and tendons of her thigh to the bone in March 2020.
In the final stages of her rehab she noticed swelling in her legs, hands and face.
The Reading ace revealed on Instagram: “My first thought was that it was some sort of allergy,

“However, the following day I was admitted to accident and emergency and underwent many tests, including a kidney biopsy.
“The result of the biopsy showed that I had a kidney condition called nephrotic syndrome.
“To treat this condition, I was put on the highest possible dose of steroids.
“This, of course, did not come without noticeable side effects.

“I gained an excessive amount of weight and this was noticeable in both my physical appearance and performances on the pitch.”
Williams is England’s most-capped women’s international with 170 appearances.

The Reading ace noticed swelling in her face, legs and handsCredit: Instagram / @fara44

The midfielder was admitted to accident and emergency and underwent many tests, including a kidney biopsyCredit: Instagram / @fara44

She has played at three World Cups, and despite her kidney condition battle – she has made 10 appearances this season for the Royals.
The midfielder continued: “I was fully cleared to play football on my medication by the Anti-doping Authority, together with having regular blood and urine tests.
“My consultant had never encountered someone within sport with this condition, until assisting me with my treatment,
“So it has been difficult to know what to do for the best – both for myself and Reading WFC.
“I’ve been conscious of not wanting my teammates or the fans to think that I was unfit or not trying my absolute hardest in training sessions or during matches.
“Upon reflection, I now feel I should have waited until I was further into recovery before I continued to play football.”
The Lionesses superstar has urged her fans to be “speak out and support each other” if they are going through something similar.
She added: “It is important to be open and honest about the challenges I have faced, with both my mental and physical well-being.

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BRISTOL CITY boss Matt Beard has revealed his plans to help Bristol City prepare for their WSL relegation dogfight.
The Robins boss said that his side need a break after an intense few weeks and that they’ll use the time to get “sharper and fitter.”

Beard says the Robins will use their time off to get sharper to avoid the dropCredit: Reuters

Speaking to the club’s website, he said: “They need a rest after an intense five weeks so they’ll have a couple of days to switch off.
“We’re in three days next week where we’ll work hard and work on our positional play, our patterns and get us sharper and fitter.”
Beard added that he realised that his side need to improve their fitness levels during their 5-0 loss to Chelsea last weekend.
Despite the loss, he said the Robins are fitter than when he first arrived, but will use the next two weeks to improve.

He continued: “That was the biggest thing for me, seeing their (Chelsea) fitness levels in comparison to ours.
“We’re fitter than when we were when I first started but we can utilise these next two weeks to improve as a team.”
The Robins will need all the rest they can get for their battle to stay in the WSL.
They currently sit at the bottom of the table with six points, two behind Beard’s former side West Ham, who have a game in hand.

But Beard is confident that he can guide his team to safety and has “identified” what they can do to survive.
Speaking after their Chelsea loss, he said: “I said to the girls we’ve identified where we can win to get us out of where we are so this won’t define where we finish in the table but we didn’t compete at times.”
Beard has until early March to work with his team, who face Reading next in the WSL .

But he’s optimistic about the club’s survival chancesCredit: PA:Press Association

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MARCUS BIGNOT has revealed that the opportunity to manage Aston Villa came out the blue.
Guiseley’s joint manager became Villa’s interim boss until the end of the season last month.

Bignot says that he was surprised to get the Villa jobCredit: Getty Images – Getty

But he admitted accepting the job was a no-brainerCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Bignot, 46, says he was surprised at the job offer, but he had “no second thoughts” about accepting the role.
Speaking to Guiseley’s club website, he said: “The opportunity came out of the blue, I wasn’t looking towards that, I wasn’t geared towards that.
“When I got a call from a sporting director Eni Aluko at Villa, there was no hesitation, there were no second thoughts.”
He was out of work since the National League was suspended last March due to the Covid pandemic, but says that didn’t play a part in his decision to take the job.

The loss of his academy, and the allure of working at Villa’s state of the art training facilities helped him make his decision.
Bignot added: “I would have taken it on even if the National League hadn’t been suspended, because I lost working at my academy in the day.
“I love working and getting out on the grass, so the big thing for me was losing the academy,
“But then the attraction of being able to work in the environment at Bodymoor Heath, which is second to none.”

He also revealed that being able to work with Villa’s wide array of foreign talent and mentoring the club’s head coach Gemma Davies “excited” him.

Bignot has his work out cut out at Villa, who currently sit just four points above the bottom of the WSL.
Villa are hoping to tap into Bignot’s experience of managing club’s such as Birmingham City in their bid to stay in the league.
Upon his arrival, Aluko said: “Marcus is a very welcome addition to our club and has an enormous amount of experience in the game which we want to tap into.”

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INSPIRING Chelsea couple Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson opened their social media DMs on Valentines Day for fans who are struggling to come out.
The Blues duo offered to give advice to their fans and share their own experiences of coming out as gay to their families.

Pernille Harder (left) and Magda Eriksson (right) have been together since 2014Credit: Instagram @magdaeriksson16

The couple both play for WSL champions ChelseaCredit: Instagram @pharder10

On Valentine’s Day, Harder wrote on Twitter: “I’m lucky to have a family who was nothing but happy for me when I came out seven years ago.
“I know a lot of people are struggling to tell their friends and families they are gay, which must be the worst feeling I can imagine.
“To come out should feel natural to anybody and likewise be accepted by everyone. 
“For the next hours, Magda Eriksson and I will open our dm’s for anyone who struggles to come out, wants to know about our experiences or just look for a good advice on Valentine’s Day.”

Denmark’s Harder joined Swedish club Linköpings aged just 20 in 2012 and was joined a year later by Swede Eriksson who signed from Djurgårdens.
The pair began seeing each other in May 2014 and their relationship endured three years apart after Harder joined German champs Wolfsburg.
But the couple were reunited when the Dane joined Eriksson last summer at Chelsea, for a world record transfer fee.
The pair became role models in the LGBTQ+ community when a photo of them kissing at the 2019 France World Cup went viral.

To come out should feel natural to anybody and likewise be accepted by everyone. For the next hours, @MagdaEricsson and I will open our dm’s for anyone who struggles to come out, want to know about our experiences or just look for a good advice on Valentine’s day.
— Pernille Harder (@PernilleMHarder) February 14, 2021

Harder revealed they have been left “overwhelmed by the responses” after their DM’s were flooded with messages from fans overnight.
Eriksson added: “Thanks for sharing your stories with us.
“Hopefully we’ve managed to help some people along the way.
“Sorry we couldn’t get back to everyone tonight but we’ll pick it up again tomorrow. Good night and happy Valentines.”
Many Twitter uses were quick to hail the inspiring move by the West London duo.
One fan wrote: “Thank you opening you for opening up your dm’s for people, seeing that was lovely and such a wonderful gesture.
“Thank you both for being yourselves.”
Harder was forced to hit back at a vile troll who wrote: “Absolutely rubbish am out of here and just lost a fan.”
The strike sensation replied: “See ya. Don’t want fans like you anyway.”

See ya. Don’t want fans like you anyway.
— Pernille Harder (@PernilleMHarder) February 14, 2021

Harder (left) has won the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year twiceCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Chelsea captain Magda Eriksson arrived at the club in 2017Credit: Getty Images – Getty

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EMILE HESKEY has taken up a coaching role with Leicester City’s promotion-chasing women’s side.
The former Foxes forward, who began the season as the team’s ambassador, has decided to embark on a more hands-on role.

Emile Heskey is helping to coach Leicester City’s Women’s Championship sideCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Former England striker Heskey wants to share his knowledge of the game with the FoxesCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Heskey, who scored 46 times during a six-season spell with Leicester at the start of his career, sees the job as an outlet to share his football knowledge.
And the former England striker praised club boss Jonathan Morgan for helping him adapt to his new position.
Heskey told Sportsmail: “I’m trying to give back what I learned in the professional game.
“The manager’s been fantastic helping me as well because I’ve got all this knowledge from playing but it’s not always easy to get that out in the right way as a coach.”

Heskey, 43, is supporting Morgan’s bid to propel the Foxes from the Women’s Championship into the Women’s Super League for the first time in the club’s history.
The team are currently top of the table and 10 points clear of fallen WSL giants Liverpool.
Heskey, who played for Leicester from 1994 to 2000, added: “When you only have one up, one down it’s always going to be really competitive. You’ve got to have ambitions.”
Since December, the Foxes’ women’s team have been using the men’s former training facility Belvoir Drive.

And Heskey, who first trained with Leicester as a kid, says it shows how invested the club is in the development of girls’ football and the women’s game in the area.

Heskey praised Foxes boss Jonathan Morgan for helping him to settle into his roleCredit: Getty Images – Getty

The ex-Liverpool striker added: “It’s a Premier League facility and we’ve got the whole thing to ourselves.
“I was here from age nine, playing and training. It’s changed a hell of a lot since then but it’s great the girls can see what they’ve got and that the club is investing in them.”
Last week, the footballing world was rocked by the racial abuse that Manchester United ace Lauren James had received on social media.
And the outcry led to calls for social media giants to take tougher action against racist trolling online.
Last year Heskey revealed that he was also a victim of racial abuse whilst playing for England, but insists that football was heading in the “right direction.”
The former Three Lions forward said: “We’ve got mechanisms now within sport which we never had [in my day].
“We’re going in the right direction.”

Leicester are due to take on Crystal Palace in their next gameCredit: PA:Press Association

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