Kirby speaks out on toxic social media abuse

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“I’ve had comments where people have said: ‘Fran played really well, what a game, but she looks big today.’ I’m like: ‘Why is that comment necessary?’ It shouldn’t matter what my body shape is.”

Chelsea and England midfielder Fran Kirby, 30, first raised issues on the “stigma” around nutrition in women’s football and the pressure on players about their “weight and how we look on TV” in November, which she said was linked to the growing profile of the sport.

At the time, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes praised Kirby for addressing a “problem” of “underfuelling and underloading” which “comes with the constant demands to look a certain way and, unfortunately, a vitriolic environment that comes from social media”.

Speaking to BBC Sport, midfielder Kirby said: “I’ve read things about myself and think: ‘Oh really, is that what people think about me?’ Or: ‘Is that how I really look?’ It still impacts me but I’m better at dealing with that.

“It’s really important to emphasise that, of course we’re professional athletes and we have to be fit to do our sport, but a body shape doesn’t determine if you’re fit enough. A lot of people see athletes as robots.

“I’ve been on the end of comments and so have my team-mates.

It is a problem but I don’t think it’s just a women’s football problem. I think it’s bigger than that.”

Kirby has struggled with injury and illness throughout her career, being diagnosed with a heart condition in 2020 before needing knee surgery, ruling her out of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and she says she has received comments on her weight because of it.

“Coming back from an injury, you’re not going to be in the best shape of your life,” said Kirby.

“It was quite hard for me a few years ago after my heart condition.

I’d been out for a while and had gained a bit of weight because I physically couldn’t do anything.

“It’s not like we train for a week and suddenly you’re fully fit and ready to go. It was tough reading those comments.”

Kirby said she has “no fear” raising these issues now she is an experienced international and although it is not easy, she has found ways to deal with it.

“I have been around long enough to suffer my own abuse growing up and seeing it on social media – you don’t become accustomed to it, though, and there’s still things you read,” she said.

“A younger player coming through, who maybe gets comments like that, could end up not eating and having to compete at a high level. You see their performance drop and it really impacts them.