We Are Chelsea: Hampton reflects on her Spanish football roots

The 23-year-old – who completed her first season as a Blue after signing from Aston Villa last summer – spoke to host Caz de Moraes about growing up and playing football in Spain.

She shared her earliest memories of the sport and how that led to trying out for Villarreal as a youngster.

‘In Spain, it was quite normal for boys and girls to play sports together at the end of the day in the playground,’ explained Hampton. ‘The big thing was football, so I thought let’s join in and have a bit of fun with my friends.

‘Before we even moved to Spain I was kicking a ball around and sat on the side of my brother’s sports matches – being too young to play and moaning to my parents about wanting to join.

‘In Spain, I joined in with the lads and the school we were at was like the main school in Villareal, so all the men’s players sent their kids to the school. At the end of the day, they would pick up their children and would see all of us playing, they came up to me and said I should trial and see how it goes.’

The player who encouraged her to seek a trial was Argentinian defender Fabio Fuentes, whose daughter was in the same class as Hampton.

‘It was him who came up to me at the end of the school day and said I should trial,’ added Hampton. ‘When we first moved, I couldn’t speak any Spanish, so it was foreign to me and I had to get one of the translators to translate it for me and my parents.

‘I remember when I had the trial and the phone call to find out whether you had been picked for the club or not. My mum was driving out the school gates and got a call from a Spanish number. They were speaking really quickly in Spanish and she didn’t have a clue!

‘She stopped the car behind and it was another teacher from the school, who could speak English and Spanish – and that’s how I found out if I was in the club or not.’

Hampton may have established herself as a safe pair of hands, but the England international started off anywhere but between the sticks when playing as a kid in Spain. In the episode, she delves into how she became a goalkeeper.

‘In Spain, I was always a striker, winger or midfielder,’ said Hampton. ‘If they wanted running I’d be there because I enjoyed it. Even when I moved back to England and I was at Stoke, at first I was still a striker or a winger.

‘It was only when I was like 12 and the keeper got injured in the warm-up that I volunteered that I’d go in goal, like you do, and go round where everyone takes their turn.’

We Are Chelsea is distributed across Apple, Spotify or wherever fans choose to get their podcasts, in addition to being published across the Official Chelsea website, the Official Chelsea App, and Chelsea’s YouTube channel.