05-30-2018, 07:16 AM
Eni Aluko is wearing a lime-green Hawaiian print shirt and is surprisingly sprightly after a week of celebrations to mark the end of her time as a Chelsea player. There was a champagne party bus home from the game in Bristol where the club won the title unbeaten, plus festivities that followed her scoring in her final match at Liverpool. Back in London, Aluko cooked paella for 20 friends at her home and David Luiz invited the squad to dine at his new Italian restaurant. “It had been an amazing week with women who have become good friends,” Aluko says. “Finishing this season in such a positive way wrapped up what started so negatively for me personally.” Between the revelry, there were plenty of tears as the 31-year-old considered Jalen Richard">http://www.officialraiderslockerroom.com/elite-jalen-richard-jersey">Jalen Richard Womens Jersey reversing her decision. Aluko had grown frustrated at her bit-part role, concluding after five and a half years with Chelsea she would be more fulfilled elsewhere. She has signed with a club in Europe but won’t reveal where. “I’ve achieved pretty much everything I wanted to with Chelsea except maybe the Champions League, which I could still do somewhere else. I love to travel and sample new cultures; the opportunity to play in Europe and learn a language is a big one. But there have been a lot of tears. I was crying on the pitch in Bristol. I have such a strong bond with the people I work with and questioned whether I’m ever going to experience that Jimmie Ward Womens Jersey again http://www.authenticclevelandindiansshop.com/Edwin-Encarnacion-Jersey with a new team, whether I’ll be that happy – the doubts start creeping in.” A forward with electrifying pace, Aluko has been one of the outstanding players in Britain for more than 15 years, since joining Birmingham City Ladies aged 15. Marcus Bignot, her coach at the time, called her the “Wayne Rooney of women’s football”. Her mum, Sileola, and dad, Daniel, a Dylan DeMelo Womens Jersey former MP in Nigeria, moved the family from Lagos to Birmingham when Aluko was six months old. She excelled at school and her parents encouraged her to continue her education even as it became apparent a top-flight football career was a possibility for her and her younger brother, Sone. Alongside playing she graduated with a first-class honours degree from Brunel University and worked as a lawyer. Aluko is adamant girls should not be forced to choose between a football Enrique Hernandez Womens Jersey career and academic studies, calling for clubs to offer the same http://www.authenticoaklandathleticsshop.com/Andrew-Triggs-Jersey opportunities as they do to their male counterparts. “My issue is young, talented players not having to compromise their education. If you look at the men’s academy setups, http://www.officialpredatorsteamonline.com/Dante_Fabbro_Jerseythey have partnerships with colleges or universities, whereas we don’t really have that with women’s football. You don’t want an 18-year-old girl who’s very talented thinking: ‘I want to play for the first team but I’ve got to give up my education to do so.’ That has happened a lot in the past. “Some of big men’s clubs like Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal have raised the bar in terms of salaries and professionalism of the women’s game. I think there needs to be continued increase in salaries to reflect the attention on the game and its commercial viability. The argument before was that nobody was watching but that’s not true nowadays.” The idea that 45,000 fans would attend a women’s FA Cup final, as they did this month at Wembley, was scarcely believable when Aluko was cutting her teeth in the Midlands. She has noticed more girls coming up to her in the street or at games but what she finds most heartening is the sight of more young boys at Women’s Super League matches. cheap jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys from china wholesale nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseyswholesale jerseys cheap nfl jerseys