Exclusive: Kealia Watt credits Burnley ownership with aiding 'difficult transition' from playing career
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Updated 08/03/2024 at 15:24 GMT
In an extended conversation celebrating International Women’s Day, former football players Kealia Watt and Rachel Brown-Finnis spoke about the rise of the women’s game, balancing a playing career with motherhood, and life after retirement. The pair also shared their hopes for the future of women’s football. Watt is now a co-owner at Burnley, while Brown-Finnis is a pundit and commentator.
Kealia Watt partner of NFL icon and minority owner of Burnley, J.J. Watt during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Manchester City at Turf Moor on August 11, 2023 in Burnley, England
Image credit: Getty Images
Burnley co-owner Kealia Watt has explained to TNT Sports how her involvement in the Premier League club has helped her transition from a playing career.
Watt played in the NWSL, the top flight of women’s football in the United States, between 2014 and 2021. The majority of her career was spent with Houston Dash, before a short stint with Chicago Red Stars.
She married NFL player JJ Watt in 2020 and gave birth to the couple’s first child in 2022. The 32-year-old has not played since, while her husband retired last year. The pair acquired a minority stake in Burnley shortly after.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, Watt spoke with former England and Everton goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis, who was born and raised in Burnley, for TNT Sports.
“My husband and I kind of transitioned at the same time - he retired and then I retired, and we were able to invest in Burnley, which has been so much fun,” Watt explained.
“We're here in England for a month, we’re gonna go to the next five games and we're so excited.
“It’s just been really cool for us, because we miss so much the competition of sport, and I think that's something that you'll always crave and you'll always just miss in your life.
“You're so used to competing every single day. This gives us that little bit of competition where we care so much and we want them to do so well. Every single week, we have the games on, and it's been really, really fun.”
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Kealia Watt #2 of the Chicago Red Stars dribbles the ball during a game between Chicago Red Stars and Orlando Pride at Exploria Stadium on October 29, 2021 in Orlando, Florida.
Image credit: Getty Images
Watt added: “I think that any professional athlete that's transitioning from playing your entire life, it's really difficult.
“You’re trying to find yourself or figure out, what is my purpose now? I've had this purpose and identity for so long. We've been navigating it together but just have loved being a part of Burnley.”
Brown-Finnis retired in 2015 after making 82 appearances for England and has now forged a successful career in football punditry and commentating.
“I miss the pressure of playing as well,” she said. “The pressure of performing - I got a buzz out of people either expecting mistakes or getting yourself ready to go and play in a big game. I really miss that.
“So the job that I have gone on to do, I love it because it's reacting live, you've got to call it as you see it. From being a goalkeeper, I was looking at patterns of play all the time when I was on the pitch. I was looking at how attacks are building up, how I could organise my defence to be able to get them in position.
“So I'm basically just verbalising these things on the TV or on the radio when I'm doing my job. I love the pressure of performance. Now I'm just performing but in a slightly different role.”
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Sports pundit Rachel Brown-Finnis ahead of the Premier League match between Manchester City and Burnley FC at Etihad Stadium on January 31, 2024 in Manchester, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
The rise of women’s football
Women’s football in the UK is rapidly gaining popularity. Arsenal boast an average attendance of 34,997 in the Women’s Super League this season, for example, more than 10 Premier League teams.
Despite retiring nearly a decade ago, Brown-Finnis saw glimpses of this during her career, and described playing for Team GB in front of more than 70,000 spectators during the London 2012 Olympic Games as the “proudest moment” of her career.
Brown-Finnis and Watt both agreed that the UK had lagged behind the US in terms of accepting and promoting women’s football, but now the former has caught up, particularly after England’s Euro 2022 victory.
“Now we're competing against each other, trying to see who can be the most professional, who can be the best,” Watt said.
“I do think people have caught up with the United States.
“But I think that's a sign that there is investment and real sponsorship behind the game now, and it's so cool to see.”
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A new Women's Super League attendance record is being set during the Barclays FA Women's Super League match between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium in London, on February 17, 2024
Image credit: Getty Images
Increased attention, investment and sponsorship has also led to rising standards for players. Following the introduction of enhanced maternity policies, many are now able to balance a playing career with having a family.
“At the beginning of my career in the United States, when you had a baby, there really wasn't an option to play,” Watt recalled. “You could try. Maybe there were one or two. I had one team-mate Jessica McDonald who had a son, but it was not common.
“Now it is so common to see these women going back and playing after having children and getting the support that they deserve.
“It's so incredible, because every day when I'm with my son or when he doesn't sleep or when I'm tired, I think it is so incredible that these women are raising their kids, raising their families, playing a sport and being a professional athlete at the same time. It is truly unbelievable.”
Celebrating International Women’s Day
Following the rapid growth of women’s football in recent years, Brown-Finnis and Watt marked International Women's Day by sharing their wishes for the future of the sport.
“I want what's happened recently to continue, for whatever generation of people to understand that girls and women have just as much reason to be involved in sport as men do,” Brown-Finnis said.
“I'm so proud of our children, growing up in a generation and an environment that is so inclusive and encouraging of anyone, certainly football for all.
“I want to see the professional league in this country grow from strength to strength. I want to see icons of the game as role models for everybody in the game. I'm so grateful to football - I want other people to be able to share and have that same experience.”
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Watt added: “I remember when I first started playing professionally, it really felt like women's soccer, women's football, was like a charity. They would let you do it, and you would just have to be grateful for what you had. Don't complain too much, don't say too much.
“That has really changed, and what I'm most proud of is that we really found our voice. I know in America it took a while for the players to stand up and say this is not good enough, we deserve more.
"It really pushed the boundaries. I want it to just continue to move in that direction.”
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