KIRBY Fran

General
HONORARY DOCTORATE
In October 2019 she received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Winchester in England in recognition of her achievements in sport and raising awareness for mental health issues. "To receive this because of something that I'm so passionate about, makes me so proud. Mental health is always something that I will be very open about, and I hope we can continue to break the stigma around it." (Twitter profile, 16 Oct 2019; chelseafc.com, 21 Oct 2019)

BREAK AND RETURN
She took a break from the sport at age 17 after struggling with depression following the death of her mother at age 14. She returned to football in 2012, initially playing amateur football with friends. "I'd spent the near part of 10 years playing football, and I decided I just wanted to be Fran. I didn't want to be sitting in a room with someone telling me how I was going to play for England and be the best player and how I need to do this or that. I constantly had that pressure, even when I was so young. [Returning to the sport] there was no pressure. I didn't feel if we lost a game that it was the end of the world. I really enjoyed it and my love of football grew again." (getreading.co.uk, 06 Jun 2019; espn.com, 04 Jun 2019)

In December 2020 she scored her 69th goal for Chelsea, making her the club's all-time top goalscorer overtaking Eni Aluko. Kirby achieved the feat with two goals in a Champions League match against Benfica. (bbc.co.uk, 09 Dec 2020)