Siobhan Chamberlain's FFC Story

Former England goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain, a lifelong Fulham fan, discusses her career, the progress of Women’s football, and the prospect of FFCW taking on Wimbledon at Craven Cottage.

Can you talk us through your Fulham story?

I didn’t start playing football until I was about 11-years-old. Both of my younger brothers started playing for the Junior Black and Whites down at Bishop’s Park on Saturday mornings. They went with my Dad and I got jealous that I wasn’t involved, so I decided that I wanted to go along as well, and it kind of continued on from there. I used to go to the holiday courses when I was at school, which was nice easy childcare for my Mum and Dad, taking all three of us down for every half-term, every summer holidays, Christmas, everything. It’s like the holiday courses that the Foundation does now. And then I started playing for Fulham at what was probably about Under-14 level.

So was that how you became a Fulham fan?

My Dad's been a Season Ticket Holder his whole life, he went to the 1975 FA Cup Final, so there was never any kind of choice for me! It was: you're born, you're a Fulham fan. Same for both my brothers. My Dad said there was only ever one thing that I was going to be forced into as a child, and that was to be a Fulham fan. So I had no choice in the matter but I'm glad because I really enjoy supporting Fulham. I used to go to all the games when I was a kid. It was then a bit more difficult, playing alongside it and now having two little ones and living up north.

What have you made of the Men’s start to the season?

It’s been brilliant. When you saw that the opening fixture was against Liverpool, it was a bit like, ‘Oh God, what a welcome to the league!’ But it was a fantastic performance and result. Mitrović is absolutely on fire, but as a goalkeeper, I've got to give Bernd Leno a bit of credit, he’s done really well since he's come in.

Fulham Ladies were the first professional team in the country in the early noughties, but you would’ve been quite young at that time?

They turned professional halfway through my A-Levels, so whether or not I'd have been given the opportunity to turn professional with them, I don't know. I probably wasn't at that level at that point, but I wanted to finish my A-Levels anyway. I didn’t think that football was really an option as a profession, so I knew that I needed to make sure I got my education sorted. I left Fulham the year that they turned professional, stayed at school to finish my A-Levels and then signed for Chelsea, as you do! My Dad was not happy, to say the least. But it was a local team, they were in the same league as Fulham, but obviously weren't professional. It was a good opportunity to get first team football and develop my career, alongside doing my studying at the same time.

You went on to have a fantastic career – you won titles, 50 England caps – what was your personal highlight?

It's got to be the 2015 World Cup in Canada, when we won the bronze medal. We beat Germany in the third place play-off, and it was the first time we'd ever beaten Germany. It was my fifth major tournament that I'd been to, I'd been to two World Cups before and two European Championships, but I'd never actually got onto the pitch. I'd always been a squad member – as a goalkeeper it's always more difficult. I came on in the Quarter-Final, the Canada game. I'd previously played for Vancouver Whitecaps, and we played in Vancouver, so to come on in that game in front of 55,000 people and to help England qualify for the Semi-Final of a World Cup for the first ever time was pretty impressive. I definitely did a lot of time wasting as I was coming on, which was fun. It was interesting getting booed by 55,000 people!

I’m sure you would have loved to have been a part of it, but how much did you enjoy watching the Euros as a fan this year?

Oh, it was brilliant. I did quite a bit of media work around it so was involved to a certain extent, but very jealous that I wasn't involved in the squad! I still love watching all of my teammates play and it was brilliant to see the way that the nation got behind the team and how enthusiastic everyone was. Not just young girls that like playing football but boys as well, grown men, everyone. Families, people on their own, people that would never normally sit and watch football, let alone sit and watch women's football. They all kind of fell in love with the team and fell in love with the sport. I think it's a great stepping stone for the game and hopefully it can progress hugely from there. With a World Cup on the horizon, who knows how far the game can go.

Several players you were in England squads with were part of that group – Jill Scott, Fran Kirby, Lucy Bronze, Ellen White – how proud and pleased for them were you?

I was at the opening game and I was at the Final as well. I was quite heavily pregnant at the time, so I used the excuse that it was my hormones, but I was definitely very emotional! Both for kind of the growth of the game but also for obviously my friends, my teammates that are also friends, understanding the journey that they've been on, to see them getting that success was brilliant.

Are you watching Jill in the jungle at the moment?

I am. She’s brilliant, but that's just Jill, she’s a brilliant person, she's got such a good personality. You saw from the very first task she did. I don't know how she did that, it was incredible. She was just worrying and caring about others, motivating them, telling them it’ll be okay. That's just her, she’s a team player, but also fun and a bit scatty and crazy at the same time!

How good will it be to see Fulham Women play at the Cottage this week?

It’s brilliant. I think it's important for all teams to back their women's side. It’s half the population so why shouldn't it be looked after within the club? There's so many more clubs around now that are taking women's football seriously and are investing in it and valuing it, so it's brilliant to see that the players have been given the opportunity to play at Craven Cottage. Hopefully the supporters get behind them, get there and support them, but not just support them for that one game, support them ongoing as well. It's not just about one game at Craven Cottage, it's about what happens week in, week out. Yeah, it's great to have a showcase game at Craven Cottage, but if you enjoy it, if you like what you see, if you like what you're watching, go down and support them the following Sunday, when they need you for title winning games. That's when you need to show your support for the Women's team as well.

Do you have any advice for the players?

I'm sure it'll be a little bit nervous, it will be a bit daunting for some of them because it is such a different environment to what they’re used to, but it's about embracing it. The crowd is there to support you, they’re your home fans and they're there to back you all the way, so just enjoy every minute of it. Embrace it. Remember all the memories, but at the end of the day, it's just a football match. It's just another match. It's just another pitch. Don't forget about everyone that's there watching because it's important to value those people, there'll be a lot of your friends there I'm sure and their families which is really, really nice to be able to look up in the stands and see them, but at the end of the day, it's just another 90 minutes. Put it to the back of your mind and go out there and put in the performance that gets the result.

You played at the Cottage once, but it wasn’t for us, was it?

Unfortunately it was for Chelsea! It was after the Fulham-Chelsea men's game in the Premier League. As I said, my Dad’s a Season Ticket Holder so he was in the Hammersmith End, and after that game finished he had to change ends, he had to walk around to the Chelsea end, and he said he absolutely hated it! But yeah, I’d have loved to play for Fulham there. It’s probably a bit of fate really that my last ever England game, I didn't play, but my last ever England game that I was in the squad for was at Craven Cottage. It was a match against Australia in 2018, so that was quite nice as well.