New Delhi: In every game, an individual arrives to change the perception of their sport and put it on the world map. When Toni Duggan looks back at her career after hanging her boots at the age of 33, she can look at herself as one of those who changed how women’s football was viewed in England.
For the English women’s football team, she made 79 appearances and helped the side reach the World Cup and European Championship semi-finals. Throughout her career, she has highlighted the conditions of women’s football. As part of her career achievement, she was part of Everton, where she started her career, featuring in Manchester City, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid before returning to Walton Hall Park to finish her career. It is her consistent performance in club-level football that made her a staple in the Lioness team.
She can be more than content with her contribution to the game which remains beyond stats and numbers. Duggan first made heads turn as a 16-year-old at Everton in 2007-08 season. The following year she would lift the Women’s FA Cup as well as bag the 2009’s PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year.
A legend of the women’s game ❤️👏
After 17 years, Toni Duggan is hanging up her boots 👋#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/r06Yuoaheo
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) September 18, 2024
Recently, Duggan reflected on her career and decision to step down from football. She mentioned that she had a young family that she wanted to spend more time with despite having the physical capability to perform at the top level. It was clearly how her emotional state was that made her decide to call it a day in her career despite having interests from clubs around the world.
It was no less of an achievement for Duggan to come back and play at the top level of football after childbirth and perform equally well alongside her peers. For Everton, she had won the FA Cup and League Cup in her first stint. It was with City that her achievements were often considered apex, as she won the Women’s Super League and another FA Cup, and she added two League Cups as well. She has herself said she played some of her best football in City’s title-winning year, 2016. Thereafter, as part of Barcelona, she won three domestic titles before lifting the Spanish Super Cup with Atletico.
It was also the period when the world witnessed the rise of English team as they collected a bronze medal in the 2015 World Cup. Duggan was part of the team that for the first time had gone beyond quarter-finals in a global competition. This was followed by a semi-final appearance in the 2017 Euro.
The performances had put the side in limelight as English media and public started noticing the consistency in the team’s performance. Duggan was an architect of the English team’s success that every club in Europe wanted to have on their side. Which explains why Barcelona brought her to the club in 2017, making her the first English player 31 years since Gary Lineker to appear for the club.
Despite being one of the most deserving players to represent Barcelona, the English forward herself admitted that she was surprised to know that Barcelona women’s existed. It was during the time when men’s team featured players like Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. It was indeed a journey for a woman who had started playing football as a kid with boys teams for under eight teams.
It is indeed the generation of players that played alongside her who proved that women’s football could be engaging to watch. After taking break during her pregnancy, Duggan voiced her opinion on how female players needed maternity terms in their contracts. Today clubs like Milan have assured players of contract renewal if players were to get pregnant in the final years of their contract. While she remains mum on what ventures she’ll take up next, she could champion as an advocate to improve women’s football.
The former Barcelona player announced retirement recently over a career that shifted perception about women’s football in England. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
