Everton striker Toni Duggan has said female footballers “need to be comfortable” in the knowledge they can have children during their playing careers and has called for clearer guidelines around pregnancy to be implemented in the women’s game.
Duggan, who returned to Merseyside in 2021 after spells with Manchester City, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, announced in September that she would be out of action for the remainder of the Blues' Women’s Super League campaign after discovering she was pregnant during pre-season. While the striker has hailed the “amazing” support she’s received from Everton, she’s keen to highlight the need for more research into the relationship between pregnancy and football and wants to pave the way for other players looking to have children in the future.
“It [was] pre-season and they're trying to run me hard and I'm thinking 'I can't do this',” Duggan told the ECHO. “I had to pick up the phone and call the doctor, which was difficult, and I didn't really know who to tell and when to tell them, but the doctor really supported me with that.
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"Then, a few days later, we then had a meeting with the manager, the physio, and so there was four of us in the room, and that went really smoothly, they were so supportive, they were so happy for me, I felt so comfortable with what was happening, and then yes, ever since, they're just been really supportive.”
Earlier this year, it was announced the Football Association would oversee a landmark change to the contracts of professional female footballers, enabling them to benefit from maternity and long-term sickness cover for the first time. The move was lauded as a “great step forward” by the Sunderland Central MP, Julie Elliott, however Duggan has expressed her incredulity at the amount of time it took for the measures to be introduced.
“I find it crazy that it’s only just been put in place now. How can that be?”, Duggan said. “I do feel for the girls that have gone before and been without that - the likes of Katie Chapman and other players as well.
“I’m willing to have conversations and make the pathway a lot clearer for other girls that maybe do want to feel more comfortable, or if it’s unplanned and it happens, they’re supported from day one.”
The Everton forward confirmed she is continuing to participate in non-contact training sessions, and wants to stay on the pitch for “as long as possible” before having to temporarily hang up her boots. While Duggan’s training schedule is largely dictated by how she is feeling day-to-day, the 31-year-old said there needs to be a more formal blueprint for how players train and stay fit during pregnancy.
“There needs to be more research,” she said. “At the minute, it's just off how I'm feeling and my symptoms.
“There should be a lot clearer plan in place or a specialist that we have access to. Ideally, when a player gets pregnant, there should be an email, a text or whatever form of contact there is, congratulations here's x, y, and Z with the contact details.
“You may fund it yourself, your club, if you're at England, the national team funds it and there's a specialist in pregnancy in sport and they can help you. I think that's how things should be.”
While Duggan will spend the rest of the season cheering on Everton from the sidelines, the striker is adamant that her footballing journey is far from over and hopes to be back on the pitch in the not too distant future.
“I've got a big journey ahead,” she said, “but yes my ambition is definitely to come back and play, once I've given birth. Obviously my main priority is my health and the baby's health, but I'm still 31 years of age and I still feel like I've got a lot more to achieve in the game.
“Obviously I'm back home at Everton and they have big ambitions too, so I'd like to get them back where they belong and help in that respect. But the next few months and the previous months just gone have been a new challenge in my life but a really exciting one and one that me and my partner are really happy about."
And though Duggan concedes it’s a strange feeling not to be pulling on a Blue shirt for the foreseeable, she has recently discovered one major perk of pregnancy.
“When I want a sausage roll now I can just have one and blame the baby,” she said. “If you see me walking around with a Greggs, then you know why.”
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