Jane Dougall's Sportswomen blog
Wednesday 18 January 2017 08:51, UK
In her latest blog Jane looks back on the career of England legend Kelly Smith.
In the last few years the coverage of women's sport in the media has grown considerably - we're not there yet - but it's definitely better.
Back when I was growing up the only time you saw a woman playing sport was during Wimbledon or at an Olympics, there was never any women's football on the television and it wasn't mentioned in the newspapers - which is why most people outside of women's football don't know just how good Kelly Smith was.
Smith was the first ever professional British female player, playing for four different clubs in America.
Her talent was so revered across the Atlantic that the Seton Hall Pirates retired her shirt number - they retired her shirt number!
Unless a footballer has died in tragic circumstances, that is a very rare occurrence. AC Milan retired Franco Baresi's No 6 shirt and Paolo Maldini's No 3 can only be used if his sons ever play for the club.
West Ham did it for Bobby Moore after he passed away; Chelsea's No 25 shirt hasn't been used since Gianfranco Zola left; Brescia retired Roberto Baggio's No 10; Honved for Ferenc Puskas; Napoli for Diego Maradona and the No 14 shirt of Ajax for Johan Cruijff.
Smith is the only woman I can find to whom this has happened.
When I met Smith at her home in north London, there isn't a trace of the swagger which should go along with her accolades. She's more concerned with reiterating her gratitude to the club which signed her three times in her career - Arsenal.
A debt incidentally which she repaid tenfold, helping them to win six league titles and five FA Cups - scoring 125 goals along the way. Arguably Smith's greatest achievement was being part of the squad which won the UEFA Cup in 2007.
Don't forget, that Arsenal Ladies are the only British club to ever win what is now the Champions League.
A glittering career but at 38, Smith has decided she won't play competitively again, taking the very difficult decision to move into full-time coaching with Arsenal.
She's currently doing her UEFA A licence and it seems coaching is a natural progression for Smith who wants to give the youngsters the benefit of her 20 plus years' experience in the professional game.
It's obviously a wrench to stop playing but, as she says with a wry smile, her body isn't recovering as well as it used to and it can take three or four days before her legs feel "normal" after a match.
Internationally she is still England's all-time leading goal scorer - with 46 goals in 117 games, but doesn't have the recognition that warrants.
My point is - if Kelly Smith had been born even 10 years later, we might have witnessed her incredible goal for England against Russia at the 2009 European Championships live on television (she lobbed the keeper from almost the half way line to beat Russia 3-2).
We might have seen her take off and kiss her boot after scoring two goals for England against Japan in the 2007 World Cup because it would have been televised; we may have read about her being banned from the UEFA Cup final in the same year because she gave the finger to the opposing fans in the semi-final.
Yes, her career wasn't without it's dark points and it was plagued with injuries. It's been well documented (in her own autobiography) that when she broke her leg in 2004 she would drink every day until she passed out. Back in England, the Sporting Chance clinic gave her the counselling she needed to eventually go back to football and sign for Arsenal again.
A fitting end to her club career then, that she not only played at Wembley in a Cup final, but won it against Chelsea last year.
Climbing those stairs to collect the trophy was something Smith said she'd only dreamed of.
As Hope Powell, Smith's England manager for 14 years said of her: "She's one of those players who come along only once or twice in a lifetime."
You can see the extended interview with Kelly Smith on Sportswomen On Demand.
