Emma Hayes praises England star Fran Kirby for speaking out on "important" issue

03 November 2023 , 22:30

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Emma Hayes (right) has stated how proud she is of Fran Kirby after the Chelsea opened up in a club documentary

Emma Hayes has spoken of how proud she is of Chelsea star Fran Kirby for opening up on the issues female athletes face with body shaming.

Kirby, 30, recently returned for Chelsea and England after an injury lay-off that deprived her of a chance to play at the 2023 Women's World Cup.

The Blues No.14 has battled fitness issues throughout her career and spoke candidly this week in a Chelsea documentary that captured her comeback. As well as speaking on the number of injuries female footballers face, Kirby also spoke about the increase in comments women players face about their body type or how they look off the field.

"As the game has grown I do believe it has become more noticeable that people are getting comments about their weight," she told Chelsea in the 'A Comeback: Nothing Stops Us Documentary.' "And how they look on TV or how they look in pictures.

"But that shouldn't matter, what body type you are, or how you in your dress or how you look in a kit. It is something that should be championed, to be strong. If that means eating more, you are doing the right things, that your body needs, not just how you look on camera."

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Kirby's club manager Hayes, speaking ahead of Chelsea's trip to Aston Villa in the WSL on Saturday, said she was proud of her player for drawing light on such an important issue in the women's game, that is often ignored.

"It was an important message Fran put across," said Hayes. "I know I said during the World Cup why I don't believe during the women's game we shouldn't have weigh-ins or body composition tests.

Fran Kirby missed six months of football this year (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

"Body shaming is a real thing and the players feel it. So I was proud of Fran for saying that because as women we're judged enough to look a certain way. But in order to perform at the level that you need to, you need to eat carbs as well as a healthy diet. And unfortunately here is a problem in sport with underfueling and underloading. And that comes with the constant demands to look a certain way. Unfortunately a vitriolic environment from social media has caused that.

"Fran has certainly fell victim to that as other players have as well. I always urge everybody to be mindful of that, because we're destroying people in many ways. I'm really glad Fran said out loud what so many female players do not say enough."

The documentary also showcases the tough road to recovery Kirby faced after the knee injury sustained that ended her 2022-23 season prematurely and ended her World Cup dreams. In recent weeks, the attacking midfielder has built her way back towards full fitness.

She played a crucial role in Chelsea's 4-2 win over Brighton before the WSL break, before featuring twice for the Lionesses against Belgium. Those appearances were Kirby's first at international level in over a year, scoring in the second game, where England lost 3-2 in Leuven.

But this only came after Kirby navigated the often unseen battles professionals face when having to recover from a serious injury.

"The emotional struggle when you are facing injury is difficult," added Hayes. "We don't always see that part. We don't always see those struggles. So often players say to me they struggle to give value to the team in that position.

"I thought it was really brave of Fran to raise that point. As well as the importance of the challenges that face female athletes and the work we still have to do, to be able to support them with the growing demands in the sport. But I thought it was a really, really good interview from her."

Jack Lacey-Hatton