'Stop bothering me, I want to eat my tea' - How Keira Walsh's nagging created an England superstar
19.08.2023 - 19:41
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Keira Walsh has lived and breathed the values of Manchester since she was born.
The 26-year-old grew up in Rochdale in a Manchester City-supporting household, honing her talents like a worker bee before joining the Blues in 2014.
After eight years with the club, Walsh became the most expensive women’s player in history when she left for Barcelona.
She has established herself as England’s most important player and one of the world’s very best.
This is how she got there:
Supporting Manchester City did not go back generations in the Walsh family, but the midfielder had little choice in who she would follow after her dad Peter had shunned his own father’s support of Liverpool to pick City as his team.
Show your support for The Lionesses in the FIFA Women's World Cup Final with the latest England home shirt. Mixing the classic with the contemporary, this shirt is being worn by the team as they bid to add the World Cup to their incredible European Championship triumph in 2022.
£79.95
READ MORE: Pep Guardiola salutes England Women's coach Sarina Wiegman ahead of World Cup final
Walsh followed enthusiastically and was decked out in the new kits every year; her fandom even went as far as the names she gave her goldfish - Shaun Goater and Nicolas Anelka.
Her introduction to football was through City games, not at Maine Road but on the TV, which meant she had the chance to go straight from their living room to the field next door to practice the skills she had just seen.
She told Manchester City: “My mum said I was watching and said: ‘I want to do that’ and then as I got older, my dad used to sit me down, put the football on and tell me to watch different players like Yaya Toure or David Silva and say: ‘Watch how they