Kylie’s Travels and Plans (Kylie Davies interview)

Reading and Wales defender Kylie Davies took six months out to travel before going full time in football. Her partner Charlie McCarthy proposed within days of landing in Bali; in New Zealand, descending the volcanic Mount Ngauruhoe, she dislodged a boulder that struck him on the leg twenty yards below, crushing his thigh muscles and requiring an air ambulance while she walked ninety minutes down and hitch-hiked back. They married in August. In her first full-time professional season, after years as a postwoman, she was Wales Player of the Year in 2015 and helped Reading to WSL 1. She will miss the Spring Series expecting a baby in May, and takes encouragement from Helen Ward’s return after motherhood.