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What next after football? I’m going to run from Leeds to Manchester

Izzy Christiansen of Everton in action during the Women's Super League match with Arsenal on May 17, 2023 in Liverpool - Izzy Christiansen interview: What next after football?  I'm going to run from Leeds to Manchester - Getty Images/Emma Simpson
Izzy Christiansen of Everton in action during the Women’s Super League match with Arsenal on May 17, 2023 in Liverpool – Izzy Christiansen interview: What next after football? I’m going to run from Leeds to Manchester – Getty Images/Emma Simpson

Izzy Christiansen is retiring from football aged 31 in order to concentrate on punditry work, her coaching badges and even tackling ultra endurance events.

The England midfielder, who earned 31 caps for his country and won the Champions League with French side Lyon after spells at Manchester City and Birmingham City, will play his final match for Everton on Saturday, at Manchester City.

A Treble winner with Lyon in 2018-19, Christiansen will now focus on becoming a coach and punditry, but will first target a charity run from Leeds to Manchester.

“I’m starting with, at the end of June, running a section from Leeds to Manchester – to help raise money for MND [Motor neurone disease]. It will be my first endurance event. I won’t go too hard too soon,” she explained on Sky Sports’ Three Players and a Podcast.

“I feel like it’s 150 percent the right decision [to retire]. It’s been on my mind since the beginning of this season, I thought it might be on the horizon. Since 2019 I’ve been working really hard on the media side of things, analyzing football and data to be able to try and deliver decent punditry or radio comms, and I feel I’ve really grown in that. The way I look at it is a crossroads and I want to go forward, not sideways.

“The best advice I was ever given was ‘never live the same year twice’, and I felt like staying in the game playing I’d just be repeating like I have [just had]. When any athlete finishes their career, you don’t often have the choice to do it within your own control, and I feel very fortunate to be in that situation where I can make this decision to step away from it. I’m just super excited and thankful for all the opportunities I’ve been given. Now’s the time for me to move on.”

Christiansen, who was part of the England squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2017 and helped the Lionesses win 2019’s SheBelieves Cup in the USA, added that she is working towards her Uefa B coaching badges.

Izzy Christiansen of Everton arrives at the stadium prior to the FA Women's Super League match with Arsenal on May 17, 2023 in Liverpool - Izzy Christiansen interview: What next after football?  I'm going to run from Leeds to Manchester - Getty Images/Jess Hornby

Izzy Christiansen of Everton arrives at the stadium prior to the FA Women’s Super League match with Arsenal on May 17, 2023 in Liverpool – Izzy Christiansen interview: What next after football? I’m going to run from Leeds to Manchester – Getty Images/Jess Hornby

“I want to stay in sport and help grow the game in whatever capacity that looks like,” she said. “I’m hooked on coaching at the moment, I’ve found that fantastic. That is something that I do want to move into in the future – and obviously I’ve been doing a lot of work in the media. We’ll see what that brings in the future.”

A winner of four major trophies while at Manchester City, during which time she was named as the 2016 PFA Player of the Year, Christiansen knows finishing her career back at the Academy Stadium on Saturday is special timing, but insists she does not want a guard of honor.

“My time at Man City was definitely the best of my career,” she said. “It feels like a really fitting ending that I’m going to be finishing my career on some grass that we had so many fond memories on.”

Analysis: One of the most influential WSL stars bows out

There was a time when Christiansen was considered the best player in the WSL and her contribution to Manchester City’s title-winning season of 2016 – still the only one they have won – came when she was arguably at the peak of her powers, revered across the sport.

She also scored the winner in the final when City lifted their first major women’s trophy, in the 2014 League Cup, and was part of the squad for Birmingham City’s only FA Cup triumph, in 2012, leaving an indelible mark on the history of both clubs.

It was her high standards on the training ground and away from the pitch that helped her earn the respect of her peers. Arsenal centre-back Jen Beattie, who previously played alongside Christiansen at Manchester City, added on the same podcast: “You’ve always looked after yourself in terms of training and gone above and beyond to be the professional and the player that you are.

“You set the example for what being a Man City player was – you took your nutrition so seriously, you were studying off the pitch. You went above and beyond to be the player you are. That’s credit to you as a person and a player .”

Christiansen, with 156 WSL appearances ahead of Saturday, is 17th on the league’s all-time appearance list.

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