The Red Bulletin June 2019
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The Red Bulletin June 2019

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68 THE RED BULLETIN

Chelcee Grimes Chelcee’s World Cup women to watch Nikita Parris, England “She’s an attacking player who played for the Everton youth team, one age group below me. Nikita is a speedster – you don’t want her running at you with the ball. When she signed for Man City, I knew she’d become one of England’s best.” GETTY IMAGES. CHELCEE WEARS NIKE ACG RELAXED-FIT WOVEN JOGGING BOTTOMS; NIKE STRIKE FOOTBALL; TANK TOP AND CHAIN, AS BEFORE Fran Kirby, England “The female Messi. Fran scored a few goals in the SheBelieves Cup [an annual international women’s tournament in the US]. She’s small, quick and as skilful as anyone. Definitely one to watch.” Megan Rapinoe, USA “The American national squad are always strong. Megan is a great player technically, and someone who will always give her team a big advantage.” Ji So-Yun, South Korea “Chelsea’s number 10. She scores and creates goals – you can’t give her space for a shot. Ji is a team player, and she makes chances out of nothing – you have to be switched on when she’s around.” Formiga, Brazil “The first woman to play in seven World Cups. Formiga will be 41 at this year’s tournament, and the stage is set for her to score the winner in a big game. That’s what competitions like this are set up for – anything can happen.” Megan Rapinoe Nikita Parris “When I went for trials at Liverpool, I didn’t even own a pair of boots” she’ll take part in a songwriting session in Ealing with producer and fellow hit machine Naughty Boy (“I met him last week and we started working together”), and at the end of the week she’ll attend the FIFA eWorld Cup video-game championships. “I’m living my dream,” beams Chelcee, a keen gamer. Excelling at two high-profile careers is turning Chelcee into something of a celebrity, as well as an ambassador for women’s football. She handles the attention well, not least because of her easy-going nature and her genuine love for what she does, and Chelcee is always ready to share her experiences with young fans who see her as a role model. But she has also been through enough to know how fickle these industries can be. Once upon a time, Chelcee quit football. She was 17 and on the precipice of turning professional, but there wasn’t enough money in the women’s game to support a viable career. This tricky decision was assuaged by the lucrative offer of a major record deal. “Someone was dangling a cheque in front of me, and football hadn’t paid in eight years, so what could I do?” she says. “I obviously chose music and dropped out of football.” If that sounds like a no-brainer, a better appreciation of Grimes’ deep commitment to the game is needed. Having grown up in Aigburth, Liverpool, the city’s legendary football club has always been a massive part of her life: “If your family are Liverpool supporters, it’s in your blood.” Her father chose her name. “Chelsea weren’t a big team back then, so it wasn’t like they were going to call me Tottenham or something,” she smiles. “My mum was like, ‘OK, we like the name, but we’ll have to spell it differently,’ so that’s how it’s spelt in my passport. When people don’t believe me, I have to get it out to show them.” With no siblings, Chelcee realised that if she wanted to get on with her male cousins and hang out with the boys on her street, she’d have to learn to play football. “It was that or stay in and do homework. At first I wasn’t very good, but I quickly improved – I’d be the first one they chose for the team.” After her grandad spotted an ad in the local paper, Chelcee’s mum enrolled her at the Ian Rush Soccer School; she was the only girl to attend. Her skills were soon recognised by Liverpool Ladies (now Liverpool FC Women), who trained at the same ground. “I was asked to come to their trials. I didn’t even own a pair of football boots, but I turned up and got through. I played for Liverpool Under-10s, then signed up for another five years.” Her passion for making music, however, didn’t bloom until her mid-teens. A huge pop fan, Chelcee grew up listening to J-Lo, Beyoncé, Pink and Kanye. Her mum would play dance music at home, while her stepdad listened to Sting and Simon & Garfunkel. Having chosen music as one of her GSCE options – mainly because she thought it would be easy – Chelcee was THE RED BULLETIN 69

68 THE RED BULLETIN

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