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When you’ve won as many trophies and medals as Fran Kirby, you inevitably run out of space to display them all. Thankfully, her dad offered a solution, but with the Chelsea and England star looking to add Champions League and World Cup winners’ medals to her growing collection, he may have to move on.
“My dad said he’s going to fix up the garage and have all my trophies in there so I can give them to him to show off — but that means he has to actually fix up the garage,” Kirby giggles in tone. which will be familiar to anyone who has a loved one who has promised to take on a particular DIY job eventually.
However, the 29-year-old’s ambitions are serious as she is determined to continue adding to a list of achievements that already includes five Women’s Super League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, two PFA Women’s Player of the Year awards, two FWA Player of the Year Awards and – after glory at Wembley in July – a European Championship winner’s medal.
Kirby says yes she did not allow the victory of the Euro to change her did she allow herself to get “too caught up in it all” after the success of the Lionesses because, as she simply explains, “I still have things I want to achieve, trophies I want to win. It’s been an amazing summer of work, but I like to move on quite quickly football-wise. I want the next trophy that’s available and the next one after that.”
And Kirby is very clear about the targets at the top of that list.
“The two things I miss are the Champions League and the World Cup. Those are the aspirations. Those two are missing,” Kirby told Telegraph Sport with a determined look.
“I was lucky to play in the Champions League final [in 2021], which not every player achieves in their career, and it didn’t go the way we wanted. It makes you really hungry.”
England will dream of glory at the World Cup next summer Down Under in Australia and New Zealand, and Chelsea’s Champions League is already in full swing. The London club cruised to a convincing 8-0 win over Albanian side Vllaznia on Wednesday, backing up a 1-0 victory away at Paris Saint-Germain to top their group. Last term, despite a strong start, Chelsea were surprisingly knocked out in the group stage and the former Reading youngster says they have learned something from that failure.
“We learned a lot from last year in terms of not getting too ahead of ourselves because we know how quickly a group can change,” Kirby said. “Just because you win a game or two doesn’t make you safe. [Last year] we felt we had some good results and maybe thought it was a given that we would qualify – we learned a lot about making sure we are successful in every single game. I think we showed that on Wednesday night.”
Kirby returned to action at Kingsmeadow as a second-half substitute in that remarkable win on Wednesday after missing three games through illness, but says she is now feeling good again as her side prepare to host Aston Villa in the WSL on Sunday (14:00). , FA player).
“Unfortunately, I caught a nasty flu [England] camp, I think it was, and it put me out for a few days, and then you just have to slowly build up,” Kirby explained. “I was very happy to get back on the field. I’m ready to go.”
At least when she can’t play, Kirby now has a new hobby to entertain herself with, having started playing the popular Call of Duty video game series as a way to relax during mid-Euro downtime. So much so that the England striker was invited to star in a celebrity team at video game publisher Activision’s event to launch the latest version of ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’, which was released on Friday, and was joined by rapper Professor Green, Olympic boxer Nicola Adams and fellow England star Jordan Pickford at the underground venue in Islington.
In an unusual interview location in a small, dark room, just feet away from neon green lights and cages full of consoles for players to battle on, Kirby — who originally named her profile after her pet dog, Cody the cockapoo, so opponents don’t know they’re shooting at the Chelsea striker – she smiles when asked if there’s anything good about the video game, adding: “I’ve improved, I wouldn’t say ‘good’. I’ve just found it a really good switch off tool , while also relaxing and recuperating.”
However, Kirby’s decision to relax in the Euro camp seemed to work as she started all six of the Lionesses’ matches and helped them lift their first trophy. She has been part of the senior set-up for eight years since her debut in 2014 and now has 65 caps and believes she has “kind of grown with the way the England women’s team has grown” in the last four major tournaments.
And as the Lionesses head into next summer’s World Cup preparations, Kirby says it is “belief” that has turned their fortunes around under Sarina Wiegman, adding: “In 2015 [at the World Cup in Canada], I wouldn’t say we were a team that believed we could win a major tournament. We always knew we had good players and a good system, but I don’t know if we believed we could actually go on and beat a team like Germany.
“Now I think that narrative has changed. The confidence in the team has changed. The coach is a winner. Everyone thought we always had a good chance to win no matter who we were playing. And I don’t think that I’ve always had in the team.”
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