Recovery Journey
There comes a point in nearly every players career where they are forced to switch the pitch for the sidelines, we wanted to better understand what that journey entails and how it affects players.
All sport comes with the risk of injury, it is an unfortunate reality that can never be mitigated away. No matter how much preparation you do, how many safeguards are in place, how much we invest and research injuries, it will always be a risk. That’s not to say injury prevention isn’t important, but rather context that no matter how advanced we get it will always be an experience many have.
We sat down with Brenna Lovera and Taylor McGlashan to gain a deeper understanding of what injury recovery looks like in the SWPL. A pre-warning that the following contains some descriptions of physical injury, surgery, and emotional distress.
Injuries hurt, obviously. Injuries that are seen as not being so serious when reported on sound barbaric when described. A grade two muscle strain for example would see a player out of action for a month or two, only a handful of games it’s not so bad, but a grade two muscle strain involves the fibres that make up a muscle literally tearing like paper. A description that makes people tense up to read.
Getting Injured
We spoke to Taylor McGlashan almost a year on from her injury but the date is still strong in her mind, through a wince she described what happened.
29 minutes into the game, I've kind of extended in and my left leg was stood at the back and as I reached in my left knee sort of twisted. So, it was kind of non contact, kind of kicked the ball away and just my knee twisted. I just buckled to the floor, that first 30 second to a minute of pain was just… I can't describe it. I've never felt pain like it. Then it just goes. Like you read that about ACLs, that’s what happens, the pain comes and then just automatically goes. I felt it kinda down the lateral side, outside my left knee, the physio came on and straight away I’m saying ‘I’ve done my ACL’.
Brenna Lovera had a similar experience of immediately knowing the injury and how bad it was.
It was against Rangers. I just brought the ball down and I remember I did a little like roll with it to my left with my right foot, and then when I planted to go... I just didn't go anywhere, and you hear a really loud pop. I knew immediately because when I was in Chicago [Red Stars], my roommate at the time actually tore hers [ankle ligament]. And the telltale signs are like, it feels like someone stepped on your ankle or dropped a weight and you hear a really loud pop. Like I could hear hers from across the field. So as soon as it happened, and I heard, I think, Kirsty Howat who was standing above me. She just shouted at the ref like ‘I didn't touch her’. Immediately I was like, oh, OK, so that pop was like, that wasn't in my head. That was a very real thing I heard. As soon as she said that I was like, OK, so this is happening.
We all watch enough football to picture the scene when someone goes down with a serious injury. A couple of seconds of shouting to get the referees attention followed by a whistle and their medical staff rushing over to, best case, spray on some magic spray and instantly cure any and all ailments or, worst case, figure out if the player needs to be stretchered off and stabilise anything that needs to be stabilised. If you’re in the stand you might hear some of the conversation (usually containing a lot of words that would be bleeped out of daytime TV). What we don’t know much of as fans is the support that is given in the immediate aftermath.
The immediate aftermath of Lovera’s injury had us worried and confused, there was hesitancy to bring the stretcher on and then when it got there she was helped up and hopped away down the tunnel rather than get on it. She told us why that was the case, and why she ended up back on the bench for the remainder of the game.
I just wanted to get off the field honestly, then they tried to bring out the stretcher, and I was like ‘I'm not getting on that, there's just no chance you’re putting me on that right now’. Kenzie [Weir] helped me up and I just started hopping off the field because the only thing I could think was ‘I need to be not here’. The physio was trying to downplay it because we don't know and I just remember thinking ‘I've had all the telltale signs just like, look at me, there's not a person in this room who doesn't know what's just happened’. They asked if I needed a minute so I had them grab my phone and I just texted my partner, because he was watching the game as well, and I was like ‘yeah, I've just torn it. Like, it's gone’.
Literally the first thing he said was ‘I love you, and we're gonna figure it out’. Then I ended up hopping back out on the field because the last thing that I needed was to be sat and there by myself. I got yelled at by like 6 different people, I think four people tried to literally stop me… but I actually had one of our media people help me get over there and our doctor came over and was like ‘what are you doing!’ but I was just thinking ‘there is no worse than fully rupturing this. I just need to be normal for a second before this becomes very real’.
For McGlashan the lasting image is one of support from her team. Partick Thistle embody every team spirit cliché and in that moment they lived that reputation.
There's a picture of me and the girls around me. It was Leah Robinson behind me and I'm just like grabbing her hands. I got stretched off so I went straight in to the back room and my mum came in, and my partner as well, just to kind of see how I was. As soon as I got [to the hospital], it’s all going through your head. You're thinking about the recovery time and everyone is saying wait till you get your MRI. But, you just know. You know it’s something bloody serious with that intense pain!
When I got home, Brian [Graham] gave me a call. He was just saying ‘look, we’re here, you're still gonna be part of the team’. That was made very clear from the start that even though I'm not with the team anymore, they’re still going to support me and I’m still going to work with the medical team.
The Journey to Return
For many the journey back to playing can be worse than the injury itself. McGlashan and Lovera both spoke glowingly of their club’s (or former club in McGlashan’s case) support following their injury. It can’t be hidden that they are lucky and that many do not receive such support, as has been publicly displayed recently following Kayleigh McDonald’s ACL injury and Stoke being shamed into paying for it after a GoFundMe was launched.
Taylor McGlashan had already announced that she would be leaving Partick Thistle, with her injury coming in her final game for the club. Those circumstances complicate what the club needs to do, but she told us how the club have gone beyond to give her the support she needs.
So I’m with medical group at Thistle, Cheryl McCulloch and I have a wee recovery group every Tuesday with the physio, but no one else is allowed to join! At the awards night Caroline Mackie and Beth Robertson came over and said that it can be up to a 12 week wait for an MRI so the club will pay for it privately, I mean you’re talking £300, £400, so it’s not a small bit of money. The captains [Demi Falconer and Cheryl McCulloch] came over and let me know that I’d still be part of the team and that they’d be here to support me.
The club have been really supportive that way and the plan is that I’ll be with them until I’m back to full training and get a bit of fitness back and then I’ll move on. Brian [Graham] has said he’ll help with that as well because I’ve never actually done that! But that’s just what Thistle is, we’re a club of togetherness, so it couldn’t have happened at a better club to be honest.
Glasgow City and Brenna Lovera faced their own complication with Lovera four thousand miles away from home, either surgery and rehab in the UK with her teammates or head back across the Atlantic to be around family and friends (and her extremely adorable dogs).
Honestly, the club was really great. They laid out every option I have and one of them was to go home and get it done. To even have that option, I was really grateful for them to allow me. Obviously I went through all the steps here [in Scotland], went to the ER and did all that, and then I saw another doctor, like a day later and to go through what it would be like to get surgery done at the public hospital, versus a private doctor, versus at home. What it came down to was I knew that I was gonna need pretty much full time care for a month and a half. Like, I couldn't walk up the stairs… I don't think I left the couch [for the first week], except to like go to the bathroom. Like, I couldn't do my own laundry, I couldn't cook, I literally couldn’t do anything. It's my right foot, so, I couldn't drive. I just didn't want to place that burden on anyone who wasn't family.
Coming home was what was going to be necessary for my mental health. Just to be cared for by people who were doing it because they loved me and not because they felt like it was more like an obligation. I don't think my teammates would have felt that way, but I didn't want to even put them in the position.
Both players required surgery following their injuries, a decision and process that can take a lot of mental strength. Lovera detailed how she has approached injuries differently from a mental perspective since her ACL injury in college.
Obviously on the mental side, it's been pretty difficult. I was still in college when I did my ACL and it was kind of like a peak of my season where I was starting to finally find a groove. I handled that really poorly, I got into kind of like a darker place. After it happened, I got into a pattern of like’ why me? Why this? Why now?’ I think having done that previously, and then now doing this, it's easier to see sometimes things just happen. You just have to get up and keep going because if you don't heal correctly, or you don't do the things you need to do every day, you're not going to get any better. At the end of the day, rehab comes down to what you choose to do every day. How much you choose to sleep, what you choose to drink, how you choose to eat… becomes more important than ever.
When I think about being back on the field, I do get anxious. The thought of being back out there definitely brings out a little anxiety of what if? And I think that happens to a lot of people who go through major injuries, so I’m just taking a step back and focusing on the little things every single day that I can do. By the time I get to being back on the field, I won't even worry because I know I've done everything right up to that point. It's a mentally draining thing to think about and focus on. But, it's the only thing that I think helps people get through. These are the things that I'm in control of. I can't control six months from now when I'm on the field, but I can control making sure I eat right and I get enough sleep and I drink enough water and like all that stuff.
But, despite the difficulties faced, every setback has positives that come out of them. We may not be able to see them in the fog of the difficulties faced, however, there will always be something we can learn from the experience. Taylor McGlashan told us how her ACL injury has given her perspective.
So I didn’t get the date for seven months so I had a lot of anxiousness not knowing, and I really struggled like I didn’t go to any Thistle games and I struggled to watch football at all during that time. That waiting and not knowing was so frustrating. But, I had Cheryl McCulloch and some other friends that had been through it to talk to. Then you’ve got your worries about your sick pay and returning to work as well. When I had my surgery I really needed everything to go to plan so I could return to work in time, and then there’s just wee things like walking my dog or driving anywhere where you’re relying on people. I’m fortunate that in my job I get more than statutory sick pay but obviously some others don’t and that’d be really difficult.
I’m so fortunate to have a good support network and to have a supportive partner who lives with me as well. I was being quite nippy when I first did it and she helped me start to become more accepting of it instead of fighting against it. Learning to talk about the emotions, but at the start I didn’t really know how I was feeling so it was really tough. I was never really a patient person before and used to get myself so worked up, like I had an ankle injury in 2021 and it was like a year and a half trying to get back because I wasn’t patient and I was pushing too hard. So, I listen to my body more now and know more about my nutrition to avoid that which is definitely a good thing to come out of this. You know, what’s another three months when I’ve already done nine months.
What Does the Future Hold?
The number of injuries, especially ACL injuries, in women’s football continue to be a significant issue. Shouts for more research or for the schedule to be ‘sorted’ often dominate the discourse after a player goes down, but, they aren’t tangible solutions. We wanted to get the perspective of those going through the process, Brenna Lovera provided her thoughts.
I talked to my PT about this when I first went in and she she was like ‘there's really no way to prevent an injury, like injury prevention is not real, but you can decrease your risk’. As you step onto the field or you step into that sport, you're putting yourself at a risk with the sport you play and the way you play it. But, you can do things in the gym and outside of the gym to decrease your risk as much as you possibly can. So, we talked about having a plan for when I go back. I think a lot of people overlook the little things you can do in the gym that aren't lifting huge weights just, you know, working through your movement like a slowed down calf raise and doing ankle strengthening stuff, making sure your feet are strong, making sure like your hip isn't super tight so that it hinges the right way.
Anyone that follows Taylor McGlashan on Twitter will have some idea as to what she thinks is needed to help reduce the risk of injury within the SWPL.
I think it’s a real combination of things. 3G, 4G, pitches aren’t the best and like you know how sticky 3G pitches can be which is what happened to me. Someone was telling me the other day that grip socks aren’t great because you can’t turn your foot properly. Then there’s the menstrual cycle as well. Our strength and conditioning coach was talking to the coaches at Blackburn and what they’ve got is a tracker of everyone’s menstrual cycle so they can make sure they aren’t doing as high intensity training.
I think the bigger clubs, the full time clubs, the league as well, should share more about what they are doing to prevent injuries and to share the knowledge. Strength and conditioning is obviously a massive thing, we only really have training and we don’t really have that knowledge of stretching in warm ups or having a gym programme. That’s definitely where I think the league should come in to help the teams that aren’t full time to get them that knowledge.
Both players are looking to return in the summer, with the goal to get back in action for the 2024/25 season. We are very excited to seeing them back balling out in the SWPL.