Born Kicking: Meadow Burch

An instalment of Born Kicking, the magazine’s slot for younger readers, profiling eight-year-old Meadow Burch from Southampton, whose father Lee is a friend of the magazine and its tactics columnist. Known on the pitch as Med Kick, she plays for Hythe & Dibden Caracals and supports Chelsea, is right-footed, and prefers defence because she is good at tackling while Ruby, Robyn and Laila go up front to score. She would most like to meet and play alongside Thiago Silva, would wear lilac, and describes herself as a fast, tackling team-worker. Her funniest football memory is cartwheeling all the way to kick-off after a goal while everyone waited. She wears two pairs of socks for luck, treats herself to KFC, and names Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and two YouTubers as her heroes.