Women From England

"If I were a politician who said, I've never learnt anything and I don't look around me and see that circumstances change [...] then people would say, this person does not deserve to be a Member of Parliament. How can you be responsive to people and allow your own politics and ideas to develop if you don't take on change."

"[Primarolo was married to her second husband] [So] you could say I'm into the institution. When I was a single mother my son happily described our family as me, him, our dog and our cats."

"We used to go in the chamber and sit next to each other when one of us spoke to support the speaking member, because the catcalls across the chamber were designed, as they always are, to undermine you and put you off."

"[On her earlier membership of the Campaign Group of left-wing MPs] I was hell-raising. I'm not saying I haven't made my mistakes but I don't regret anything: it's all been part of my learning curve."

"[On dealing with sexism from male MPs] One of our colleagues from the northern group had complained about Mo [Mowlam]'s swearing, and he was in the tea room when we got there. So she said: "Oh, it's all right, I won't swear today. But you need to understand the real problems I'm having with my period." I've never seen anybody run faster out of the tea rooms."

"I think it’s an advantage that there’s a few familiar faces for me, so I know what I’m going to be up against."

"We are in a good place; we have had a good couple of weeks of training and it’s up to us to go and get the three points. We need to see it as an opportunity to put things right and show what we can do."

"It’s so important we keep up our unbeaten run at home and the fans have been massive for us, you can always hear them they really are like the 12th player for us"

"I don’t think we give kids enough respect for what they understand."

"There are many things you can get out of football that you can take into the world of work."

"When you let children lead, you see their minds work in a way that’s different to ours because we’re moulded to think a certain way as we get older."

"I think every female footballer can relate to a woman working in a male-dominated area and championing it. We need to make sure that we support each other."

"I’ve been trying to encourage both boys and girls to get involved in football. There are so many life skills you can learn from football… I want kids to understand the game is for everybody."

"I hope people will look at women’s football as the norm."

"How that will inspire so many young girls and boys to talk about women's football and make it the norm."

"Expectations and perceptions have changed around women's football, but they will know that they'll have to play their part in increasing the popularity of the game."

"It's looking positive, but it's probably a similar thing with both the men and women's team, they need to have a stronger mentality of knowing they have to win."

"As footballers, we are in a position of great opportunity. People look at us. We need to make sure that we deliver the main message."

"You have to stand there against people who are probably not supporting women's football and tell them you need more money. That, in itself, takes a lot of guts. At that point, it wasn't easy to win people over."

"For players of my generation – and before – there wasn’t money in the game. You were doing it because of your passion."

"Confidence is key for any footballer."

"I've always had a voice, I just haven't had the courage to use it."

"But now, I think that if you believe in something or can help make a change for the better then it is important to speak up."

"To be honest, everybody thought that I was a boy."

"We’ve got players that can come on now and change the game. And we believe that our team’s very talented, it’s a close knit group and it’s amazing to be a part of"

"We’re definitely playing better and hopefully, we need a big win and hopefully that happens against Belgium."

"I think for a couple of days I really thought I’ve worked so hard all season, and it’s just not meant to be, but we had some really important games at Manchester United, obviously fighting for the league title and the FA Cup final."

"It is very important for female footballers that we are role models."

"We all have fears. And it takes a lot to be brave, be confident, and talk about it. And you never know what it may lead to."

"To be honest when I found out I wasn’t picked for the April camp I actually thought that was my World Cup dream over."

"I think maybe people look at the results, but I think we’ve definitely improved. What we’re doing on the ball, what Pedro is encouraging us to do – close connections – everyone feels confident now."

"When it came to deciding where I should apply for university, the reputation of LJMU’s sports offering was second to none and was something I was keen to experience and be a part of. I was aware that the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences had a history of nurturing world-class athletes and I knew I’d be getting an excellent quality of teaching and support."

"It’s been massively beneficial for me to be able to play football professionally and still continue with my studies at the same time. The support the university has given me has been great, in particular from my tutors and the rest of the Sports Scholarship staff who really go out of their way to guide you. In my case, being part of the Scholarship scheme and getting so much guidance from staff definitely helped me to strike the right balance, and commit to both my studies and professional endeavors to the very best of my ability."

"I think you never want to be playing on someone else’s misfortune, but luckily we found out that Keira’s injury obviously wasn’t too long-term or serious, so that is brilliant news."

"The teaching curriculum on the Sport and Exercise Science course was also massively applicable to my career. Everything I learned in lectures could be related back to myself as an athlete. It also provided me with a valuable opportunity to continue to progress in my career, while still obtaining an education. It was certainly a challenging experience but it’s one that definitely enabled me to better myself as a person, improve my time-management skills and further develop qualities that I hope will continue to set me up for future success."

"We were constantly, analysing and thinking, maybe overthinking. But you learn to control what you can control. The run-up to the Olympics is not nice. You thrive under pressure, that’s what you do, but there nothing is in your control."

"I was really proud to be out there and to be called upon was great. When [the coaching staff] shouted me, I thought ‘Oh wow. There’s a lot I need to remember over the next couple of minutes!’ I was just trying to soak it all in. It was amazing to get out there."

"Before February, I hadn’t really thought about an international call-up for a number of years, to be quite honest, Not that I didn’t want it to happen, but I just thought maybe that time had been and gone."

"I think you always need some timing and luck in your career, I think that did come together [with] more game time, scoring some goals and I just felt like I was in a good place."

"Under participation in women’s sport is a global concern. There are plenty of factors that contribute to the problem – a lack of facilities, a lack of real and genuine opportunities, and a perception of being less valued than our male counterparts."

"By accepting that there are barriers to women’s participation in particular, we are accepting that there isn’t a level playing field. That’s not a sustainable position to be in."

"As an athlete myself, we went through loads of psychological training and exercises, When you get to the very top level, the difference does come down to what goes on between your ears - technically, tactically - it’s very, very close and the margin for error is tiny"

"I want people to see that women are capable and accepted. I want to see people like me in powerful positions to know they’re looking out for women like me too."

"Some of us play sport as a living, and we’re really privileged to do so. But for the majority of people across the world, sport is a vehicle for keeping healthy and active."

"I’m working with the team individually to help them to understand themselves better, how to get to their performance mindset and create consistency within their game, as well working with the full squad and developing a whole, solid team culture that people want to be a part of, so they are also getting the best out of themselves and each other."

"Everything today is so visual and forced upon us – girls and women especially – that we feel as if we have to accept and apply a standardised version of what’s ‘beautiful’."

"I think one of the most frightening statistics is that one in three women don’t want to participate in sports because of how their skin looks. When you’re faced with that statistical reality, it would make you want to be a part of anything that can help change that."

"It’s important that they feel like they can be who they’d like to be and move how they’d like to move."

"We’re often told to be quiet or be careful, which as a way of growing up, I find to be quite unhealthy. So, already being able to talk about your skin with other people allows you to celebrate it, as you’re all in the same boat. That’s really important to me."

"Yeah, I think there are a lot of tangible barriers that you see regarding women’s sport, especially football. But, I feel what’s often overlooked are the intangible ones; the societal barriers that have been plaguing us for years for example."