44 Quotes by Fran Kirby

When I turned 17, that's when it all got a bit too much. I decided to stop doing pretty much everything. I quit football. I wouldn't get up in the morning. I wouldn't go out of my room. I was very depressed.

A lot of people recognise me now, especially the younger generations, definitely. But it's not that common.

We want to be the face of women's football, to encourage young girls to play. If I have to be recognised in the streets to encourage them, I'm happy to do that.

I joined the international stage quite late. I didn't do many of the youth age groups, so to come into the senior team and to be offered a Nike deal - a very, very low Nike deal to start with - but I was jumping up to bite the woman's hand off to sign the piece of paper.

Ultimately, we need to grow the women's game. That's the biggest issue; it always has been. Then you can talk about equal pay and everything else.

Ultimately, we are doing the same job as the men, but I understand that we're not filling out stadiums.

For me, I want to put football in the best possible way: where the girls play professionally, get the sponsorships they deserve, and set themselves up after football so that they're not struggling and asking themselves what they're going to do.

That's what all of us want, why we're getting involved in so many campaigns - we want to leave football in a better place than when we came into it.

I've come out of myself as a person at Chelsea and expressed myself on and off the pitch.