Sanne Troelsgaard is, by her own admission, “not a normal professional football player”. Instead of winding down after training – perhaps by watching some Netflix, like her teammates – the Reading midfielder gets straight back to work on what she describes as her “online coaching universe”: that is her own company, Troelsgaard Fitness, set up during the pandemic.
As well as being a professional footballer, Troelsgaard is an online coach, providing tailored nutritional plans and exercise programmes to her clients, now more than 30 people. “All my teammates always say: ‘How can you just go home and then still work?’
“But I’m not that kind of person. I always have different kinds of things to do … for me, it’s also important that you have something out[side] of football.” Her coaching work, she says, gives her a sense of “freedom, for me, to help people”. It has helped in her playing career, too, because she makes her own nutrition plans (“I always have carrots with me.”). “It’s given me a lot of structure, that I have to be prepared; I’m a really prepared person,” she says.
Born and raised in Vejen, Denmark, Troelsgaard recalls being part of a “nice little family”, playing football with her two older brothers and twin sister in the garden. Aged five, she joined a boys’ team with her sister – all that was available then – before signing up to a girls’ team at about 12. Her sister, Lotte, has been with her on much of her journey, playing alongside her for her country.
Sanne played for the municipality of Vejen in her youth and in 2009 joined the top-flight side Brøndby IF, having made her senior international debut the year before. Being fully professional wasn’t yet an option: She juggled her playing career with working in a sports shop and later as a teacher. The top-tier Danish Women’s League remains semi-professional.
In 2013, her father, one of her biggest supporters, was diagnosed with cancer. “At that time, my world was just broken down,” she says. Despite being selected for Denmark’s squad in the 2013 Euros, she dropped out before the tournament so she could be at her father’s bedside when he died.
“Family is much, much more important than football,” she says. “I stopped [playing] for three months because I couldn’t go on the pitch without my dad.” Troelsgaard has since worn the No 51 shirt as a tribute to her father, his year of birth. “Every time I go on the pitch, I think about my dad.”
Troelsgaard moved back home for a few years, living with her family and playing for Kolding IF. Then came an offer she couldn’t refuse: the chance to play for the professional Swedish side FC Rosengård, where she stayed until 2021. “Before that, I just had been a full-time worker in a school in Denmark,” she says. “Then, after two weeks, I was standing in the Mini Camp Nou in Spain playing against Barcelona [in the Champions League].” It was, she says, a “crazy two weeks for me”.
For years, Troelsgaard had her sights set on the Women’s Super League, signing with Reading in 2021. She made her debut for the club four days after moving to the country, while living in a hotel. “It was huge for me that I’d just come on the team and then I was in the starting XI,.”
Looking back on her career, Troelsgaard, 34, puts her success down to sheer graft: “Working hard is my talent,” she says. She describes one of her biggest achievements as making her debut for Denmark in 2008, having initially not made the Under-19s squad. “I think that’s one of the highlights in my career, that if you just believe in yourself, then you can dream big.” She went on to win Denmark’s player of the year award in 2011 and has 171 caps.
Her next major goal is to make the Denmark squad for the World Cup this year, while maintaining her form at Reading. “I have more responsibility on the pitch, I have scored some of the goals, of course I want to continue it that way,” she says.
Troelsgaard is aware she is at the tail end of her career, but she isn’t ready to give up playing, despite various job offers. She says: “I just tell the people: ‘I’m not finished yet so just come back in a couple of years and we’ll see.’ But, hopefully I can be something in football – that’s my dream.” Naturally, she hopes to keep up her online coaching, too.
Troelsgaard says she has a lot left to give. “I still develop as a football player each day and also as a person.” With a smile, she adds: “My body still thinks I’m 20 years old, so I think that’s a good sign.”
Get to know the players in England’s top flight better with our WSL player in focus series. Read all our interviews here.
