Sun, Sand and Saves: Chelsea Ashurst Thriving at Málaga CF

Nick Aitken interviews Malaga CF Femenino goalkeeper Chelsea Ashurst, born in Normanton, West Yorkshire but based in Spain for 23 of her 28 years after moving to Granada with her family aged five. She took up goalkeeping around fourteen, having stopped playing for a year after a motorbike accident and finding she could not run because of a back injury. Ashurst names Julio Cesar as a childhood favourite, ter Stegen and Courtois among today’s best and Hope Solo as her idol. She reflects on spells at Sporting Huelva and Barcelona as experiences that made her grow up, and on Spain’s rapid rise since reaching the 2015 World Cup. Never contacted by The FA, she was approached by the Spanish federation at youth and senior level before she held Spanish nationality, and still hopes for a call.