Hinnigan's Balancing ActWhen it comes to pressure, Michelle Hinnigan is something of an expert.The Everton Ladies midfielder, still only 26, has played in FA Women’s Cup finals, a European Championship final with her country, in the Champions League and in vital league games.
She is the captain of a Club that the women’s footballing world still can’t quite understand why it is in the second division of English football, a scenario it is hoped will change this year with promotion.
And she is also a teacher.
While the likes of Phil Jagielka, Ross Barkley and Leighton Baines have forged Everton careers solely focused on establishing themselves as key first-team players, Hinnigan has done so against the backdrop of becoming a fully- qualified PE teacher.
Watching friends like Toni Duggan and Brooke Chaplen leave the Toffees and become full-time professional footballers has been hard for Hinnigan, but it has been worth it to be able to balance two passions in her life, however hard that can sometimes be.
“I want to be playing football for as long as I can, but everyone has to have goals they want to achieve afterwards,” she reasons. “I’m lucky in that I have my teaching degree and that I am fully qualified. I could go full-time tomorrow in football, but I have to think of the teaching side of my career. I have grown a real love for that.
“It is crazy what you can do and achieve as a teacher. You don’t realise until you are in it and doing it. The feeling when you have young girls come up to you and say that they had never played football but now they love it is incredible. It is the same feeling as when you have won a game.
“If I moved to a club that is completely professional and full-time, then I would have to give up my teaching. But I have put in that much hard work – getting my education, going to university, the late nights studying, not having a social life because I had both that and football on. I like things as they are now.
“I have got something to fall back on after my football. I could be one injury away from hanging my boots up. It’s great knowing I have that degree under my belt. At the moment, everything feels perfect with my teaching and with Everton.
“I am in a local school – St John Bosco - and girls football is on the map there. They have brand new facilities and I have been trying to get Everton involved as well. I’m trying to link my job with my football and allowing the girls to see what we do here.”
By her own admission, in order to balance the two, Hinnigan lives her life on the clock. “I’ve been doing it for so long it has just become a ritual,” she continues. “My whole life, I have lived and worked by literally scheduling things in hour by hour in order to be able to time my day properly. Wake up, go to school, come home, go to training, have an hour or two at home.
“It is hard and you do make a lot of sacrifices. It is difficult to keep up with your mates and your social life goes out the window. You can’t go out on a Saturday night like the rest of them. I’ve missed family holidays, birthdays and things like that because of football. But I think everyone who knows me knows that my football is not just a little Sunday league side – it’s Everton Ladies and they know how important that is in my life. If they know I can’t make something it’s just a ‘good luck with your game’ and they get on with it. More often than not they come along to watch anyway.”
This season, however, the pressure is really on and Hinnigan will welcome all the support both she and Everton can get. It is high time they returned themselves to the top tier of women’s football in England. Like the skipper, the players know it, and are bullish about their intent on doing so.
“I look at it ahead of every year and my aim going into every WSL 2 season is getting promoted,” explains Hinnigan. “So far we haven’t achieved that but I always look at myself and ask myself what I can do better in the season to come.
“There is pressure and it only builds every season we are in this division, with people asking how a club our size is still in it. I’m no stranger to pressure and big games, and it is about trying to give my experience over to some of the younger girls.
“Last season we missed out on promotion by the skin of our teeth. This year is important for us and we need to know that we can’t afford to be in this league any longer. We have had two seasons in it now and it was gutting for all of us to just miss out last year. We believe we should be up in WSL 1 but its now about us putting it right and getting the job done.”
The Ladies’ rearranged FAWSL Spring Series fixture against Durham Women will now take place on Saturday 6 May, with a 2pm KO at the Select Security Stadium.
Everton FC
