Different Strokes

The issue’s cover feature, by Chris Brookes, is an interview with Chelsea and Norway winger Guro Reiten, signed from Lillestrom SK in 2019 for a reported 100,000 kroner and since a six-time WSL champion with four FA Cups and three League Cups. Reiten discusses the painting habit she took up during lockdown and still refuses to show publicly, her rapid adaptation to England, and the assists that decided titles, from the 88-second cross for Mayra Ramirez at Old Trafford to a four-goal haul against Bristol City. She reflects on being used at left-back during EURO 2025 under Gemma Grainger, the differences between Emma Hayes and Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea’s repeated Champions League semi-final defeats to Barcelona, and expecting a child with her partner Julie.