Toni Duggan of Everton women’s team discusses hiding pregnancy in early weeks, ill symptoms and England’s hopes for future | Football news
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports WSL presenter Caroline Barker, Everton’s Toni Duggan discussed the difficulty of hiding her pregnancy from teammates in the early weeks, saying Joking and training with Andros Townsend and her lack of time for an England career.
Despite morning sickness during pregnancy, Toni Duggan says she still enjoys a bowl of Scouse: “I’m still eating my Scouse, feeling good, especially in this weather. My mom forced me to have to. try hard.”
Though she’s traveled from Manchester City to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, Duggan has never been far from her Scouse accent, as rich as the stew synonymous with Liverpool.
We sat down to chat a month after the Everton forward announced that she was pregnant and would miss the rest of the WSL season. It’s not just Scouse on the menu during the Zoom call from the club’s Finch Farm facility.
“For the first few weeks, I wasn’t too sick, I just got really sick,” Duggan said. “I feel fine myself, so I’ll ride my bike upstairs before the girls go out to practice.”
Like most moms-to-be, Duggan didn’t share her news for the first 12 weeks, though it’s sometimes hard to hide – especially when she’s constantly ill.
“It’s every 10 minutes. I think when my body temperature goes up and I need to get sick, the girls are in the gym and I’m like where can I go? I have to wear it. sweater and just set it aside.
“It was tough. One minute I was training on the field with the girls to do my own mini-training session and the next minute I was lying in bed for 24 hours.”
According to charity Pregnancy Morning Sickness Support, nausea and vomiting during pregnancy affects 94% of pregnancies, ranging from mild to a condition at the end of the pregnancy spectrum, morning sickness. heavy.
For Duggan, it was an illness that made it difficult for her to hide when she wasn’t ready to share her news.
“There were a few times when we were out on the field and I went to the bathroom sick. The last time one of the kids asked ‘are you okay? Is everything okay?’ and I said ‘yes, I just had a bad day’.
“It’s hard to hide it from them when we live in each other’s pockets.”
Duggan thinks that if she did a different job, her colleagues would guess. But in football where ‘a lot of girls don’t have children’, they only accept when she tells them she has back pain.
The news was finally shared via an Instagram post at the end of September. Her teammates and the Evertonians – both on the men’s and women’s teams – were quick to congratulate her, while she quickly apologized to them for hiding her pregnancy: “Andros Townsend was like ‘back injury?’ and laugh at me.”
In hindsight, Duggan wondered if she was hesitant, worried about in-game reactions, and she said she was also worried about letting the team down.
“When we found out, I was shocked and surprised and thought how are we going to tell them in football? Because we’re not used to that in this environment.
“I know how difficult it is for me and I am a fairly seasoned player. I am 31 years old and have played at many clubs. I feel I have experience in that regard, I’m pretty straightforward and even for me, it’s really hard for me to process and speak.
“I think if a 20-year-old girl goes through this, how would they handle it? So I think there are other things that can be applied to help players.”
Throughout our conversation, Duggan wanted to emphasize how supportive everyone at Everton was. She points out how manager Brian Sorensen went through when his own partner, also a footballer, had a baby.
“Everton has been fantastic for me from the first day I told them. I couldn’t be at a better club in that respect, but I think there are other areas that can be improved.
“I just think there has to be a system. There has to be more support for players, even going through it now, no protocols.
“If a player has an injury, has an ACL injury they know what to do. They go to a specialist for advice, and so on and so forth. While since I was pregnant, that’s it. there’s no research behind it, if you feel this symptom, what should you do?”
While also wanting to help mothers-to-be, the England striker can’t wait to get back to gaming.
“My ambition is to come back and compete, that’s what I’m focusing on,” she said.
“First and foremost, it’s me and the baby being healthy. That’s the most important thing, no matter how long it may take because no one knows, everyone’s pregnancy journey is different. But yes, I am. want to play for Everton next year.”
And her ambitions don’t stop there – Duggan has 76 caps for England, scoring 22 goals. She last capped her national team in March 2020 and on her return to the Toffees in the summer of 2021 – eight years after leaving Manchester City – she has set her sights on a return to the Lionesses.
What about a future Britain calling up now?
“I’m not going to delete it,” she said. “I will never take an international break. If I am asked or I am called upon, I will always be available and I will do it until the end of my career.
“If I’m good enough or strong enough, it’s up to the coaches. My ambitions never change, I’ve always enjoyed playing for the Lionesses, I’ve always felt like an important part of it. .
“If England’s call comes, it will come and I’ll be delighted. But if not, so be it. I know there’s a great generation of young talent right now that are maturing at what they’ve done. during the summer. I’m so proud of them and I’ll always say the door remains open for that door.”
Inspiration is definitely there. Duggan talks about the likes of Arsenal and England’s Katie Chapman returning to play after giving birth and in 2019 Jessica McDonald lifted the World Cup with the United States with her son by her side, sprinkled with confetti.
And just last month, Crystal Dunn scored a stunning goal to send her Portland Thorns team through to the final in the NWSL, just five months after giving birth to son Marcel, she also made her debut in October. at Wembley when the United States was defeated 2 -1 by England.
Duggan also loves to imitate those brilliant moms and run out of the game with her baby watching.
“I look forward to having my baby by my side watching over me. I think if there’s any motivation you need it’ll be there. Next year is going to be crazy, just having a little kid watching you so I’m here. really looking forward to that.
“Hopefully I can score goals again, help the team and get back to playing. I won’t lie, it’s hard to keep track. I’m missing it, but I’m still training and that’s good. so far, when I’m not too sick in those days, but I’m just looking forward to getting back with the girls.”
For now, although the focus is on the new family with her partner Tony and already two Tonis in the family, is there any chance for a third? Well, they chose not to find out the baby’s gender, despite some name suggestions.
Jill, what if Lioness Jill Scott was crowned Queen of the Jungle? Or what about Ken after her grandfather and champion advocate?
“My grandfather is very happy now that he has become a great grandfather. He said he always knew he was a great grandfather but now reality has confirmed that he is clearly happy. Names are difficult – though, you can keep giving me ideas!”
Then there you go, an open invitation to help name Toni Duggan’s baby, although surely for mom Toni and dad Tony, ‘Third Toni’ is an open target? Maybe think again, because as any Everton fan and indeed an Englishman will tell you, when it comes to football, there is only one Toni Duggan.