A surfer, a tennis star and incredible mothers | OneFootball

As we celebrate International’s Women’s Day, we asked our players to name their female inspirations!

An opportunity to recognise the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, International Women’s Day has now been celebrated for more than a century.

So, on a day which focusses on moving the world towards gender equality, we are getting to know our players a bit better by learning the stories of the incredible females who have inspired them in their lives.

While they continue to be role models for thousands of fans here and abroad whenever they step out in our colours, we wanted to know which women inspired them when they were growing up - and we got some truly incredible responses!

Josefine Rybrink

“One of my inspirations was Lotta Schelin. She was playing for the Sweden National Team and, when I was growing up, I remember watching the national team for the first time and I thought she was really cool. So she was one of the first female athletes that I was looking up to.”

Olivia Holdt

“My biggest female inspiration will have to be my mum as she made me who I am today. When I was growing up, I would see her be strong and always positive with a smile on her face, which is very inspiring to me.”

Charli Grant

“It would be Australian surfer, Sally Fitzgibbons. I just loved her lifestyle and how she went about her life, I just wanted to follow in her footsteps, like she made a lot of sacrifices to be the professional athlete she was, so she showed I was going in the right direction and what I needed to do to be at the top of my game.”

Matilda Vinberg

“My mum is literally my biggest inspiration, and my best friend. When I was growing up, it was just me, my older brother, sister, and mum. She was a single parent for almost seven years, so she’s my strongest person ever. Everything she’s went through when we lost our dad, when she was pregnant with me, and when he unfortunately passed away three months before I was born, that’s just incredible and, honestly, impossible for me to imagine how tough that must have been - to take care of three children and, at the same time, be left alone without him on her side.”

Jhanaie Pierre

“She’s not in football, but one of my biggest female idols is Serena Williams because I feel she’s an inspiration to young girls pursuing a career in sports and she promotes gender equality in the industry.”

Grace Breen

“I would probably say my mum in just the way she looks after me and always has my best interest at heart. I don’t think I would be where I am today without her. In terms of sporting inspirations, I would say Molly Bartrip as we’re quite similar in the way we both play - very strong, tenacious and aggressive.”

Evie Northwood

“My biggest female inspiration is Kit Graham because I can see how strong she has been in her recovery from an ACL injury and, after suffering my ACL earlier in the season, I have looked up to her on how strong she has been throughout it all, guiding me each day through my recovery as well. She’s a good person to look up to.”