She’s the first footballer we’ve ever nominated as ‘hot babe of the week’ and it’s easy to see why. Take a look at the gorgeous Natasha Hughes, England’s hottest defender…since...well since Ebenezer Cobb Morley founded the FA back in 1863! Sport.co.uk gave Natasha a call and chatted about her side Doncaster Belles, the future of the women’s game, WAG culture and qualifying as a Swedish massage therapist. Enjoy…
Hi Natasha, thanks for talking to sport.co.uk how does it feel to be our ‘hot babe of the week’?
Wow…yes it sounds great!
You play for Doncaster Belles, how are the team getting on this season?
We’re doing really well this season, we’ve bought a few new players and it’s quite a young team, but we’re gelling well. Despite the odd game where we’ve not performed, we’re improving and it bodes well for the season.
We’ve heard that you like to compare yourself to Manchester City defender Micah Richards, what would you say are your best qualities on the pitch?
I’d probably have to say my speed and strength are two attributes that help my game; I think Micah has that as well, so we’re sort of similar…
The women’s game always looks a bit feisty; who are the toughest opponents in the League?
The teams higher up the league are technically much better and they play better looking football, but the matches against the lower teams are more of a battle. Those games are really scrappy, physical affairs – there is certainly less football!
The game is massive in the USA – have you ever been tempted to try your luck out there?
I was going to go out there a few years ago but I changed my mind because I got offered a scholarship at Loughborough University. I have played out there on pre-season tours against the likes of Washington DC and in all honesty they are a different class. There’s loads more money and the support levels are amazing. Where we might get 100 people turn up to watch our home matches they’re getting crowds of 10,000. It’s totally different.
Any chance you’ll get to play in front of those crowds here?
I think it will happen, but it’s going to take a while. The FA are about to bring in a summer league in 2010 which will have just eight teams, so the season will be much shorter and because it won’t clash with the men’s season we should attract more people to the games. I think if money is put into the game than the quality of the matches will improve immensely. At the moment I only train once a week with my teammates, in the men’s game they train everyday – it’s an obvious reason for the difference in quality.
Fulham Ladies went professional for a bit – can you envisage a time in the near future when the whole league goes that way?
One day, hopefully in the not too distant future, it will happen and it will be great for the women’s game. Proof that it can be a success is the women’s FA Cup. We had 25,000 people watching the last two finals at the Forest Ground [home of Nottingham Forest] which is a massive improvement and shows that the fans will turn up for a top quality match.
People need to get over the negative stereotypes and understand that if we had the chance to train everyday, we’d be much fitter, the game would be loads quicker and you wouldn’t get the ‘big, fat, butch lesbians’ as people call them. When I was at Loughborough I trained twice a day, everyday and my fitness levels were on another level.
A football career is reasonably short; do you already have plans for when you retire?
I’ve just qualified as a personal trainer and I’m already a qualified sports massage therapist and Swedish massage therapist so that’s an option for the future. It obviously works well for me at the moment as it keeps me fit for the football.
What do you make of WAG culture – do you think it could ever go the other way with men wanting to sleep with women just because they’re footballers?
With the men getting as much money as they do, people are always going to want to know them. Maybe if we got that much money it could happen to us…(laughs)
Ever been tempted to chase a footballer yourself...or ever hooked up with a lucky guy from the Doncaster men’s side?
(Laughs) I’ve gone out with guys who’ve played football but they never played at a high level. As for the Doncaster guys, I’ve never seen or been near them!
Finally Natasha, what’s the worst chat up line you’ve ever heard?
It’s usually when guys have heard you’re a football player and they come up and say ‘You can tackle me any day love…’ (giggles) or ‘I’d love to play against you…’
Thanks Natasha for talking to sport.co.uk and good luck this season!
For more information about Natasha and her club Doncaster Belles, or to get in contact about possible sponsorship, visit www.doncasterroversbelles.co.uk/.