Like many young girls, Ella Barber wanted to play football, but the boys in the playground tried to tell her that “girls can’t play football”. Her parents, Alex and Kayleigh, were inspired to make a book inspired by their daughter’s story – ELLA PLAYS FOOTBALL – with a brilliantly inspiring message for other girls facing similar problems. I wanted to catch up with the husband-wife team and ask them a few questions about the creative processes behind their book.

Women’s football is rapidly growing in popularity around the world, though some young women may still feel some stigma attached to pursuing a career in it. What would you say to any girls that feel this way?

I would say our book shows you that no matter what people say, anyone can do anything they want to do – don’t worry about the stigma or stereotypes and follow your own dream. The proof is out there when you look at the lionesses this year and how they have made history in the World Cup.

A percentage of the profits for the book will go towards grassroots football groups – are you proud to be supporting them?

We are really proud. We have already agreed to sponsor a brand new U8 Girls\' team at Grays Athletic, we are sponsoring Shauni Griffiths, Nicha Dyett and Gabby Howell, who are players in Tier 5 of women’s football. We are also in talks with Pendle Sportswear to supply a kit two a second grassroots girls’ team and in the future hope to build our relationships to help more people and clubs.

How does it feel to see the Gibraltar FC team represented in a kids’ book?

Alex - My family originate from Gibraltar on my mother’s side so it was an amazing experience to travel out there and meet the Women’s National team and the GFA. They have only been part of UEFA for 10 years this year, so it was a huge honour to get them involved and we hope to continue that relationship moving forward.

What other books or authors inspired you?

Alex - Personally, having three daughters, we love the ten minutes to bed series by Rhiannon Fielding and Chris Chatterton, having read them to the girls as they grow up.When I was younger (and to this day) I love Roald Dahl, with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Esio Trot being favourites. I have passed that love to Ella who has Matilda down as one of her best books and musicals! I also love Lee Child, but that’s another story.

Kayleigh - As a child, I loved reading the Dr Seuss and Roald Dahl books. I grew up enjoyed series such as A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter by JK Rowling, which Ella also loves. In fact, she is Harry Potter mad! 

Following on from that, were there any other footballers that inspired you?

Kayleigh - I grew up around football with two brothers and a dad who are mad for Arsenal. I don’t think anyone inspired me, but since meeting Dartford Women and Gabby, I have made some great friends.  

Alex - Our house was split between Arsenal, Chelsea, and Spurs. I grew up with football and played at some level until 25yrs old when I played my last 5-a-side game. I coach now and have dabbled in and out at various clubs over the last 15yrs. Ella was my inspiration, along with Gabby of course. Like Kayleigh, meeting the Dartford team (including Jade, Shauni, Jo, Vaughni, Nicha, Mel, Georgia, Lizzie, Charlie, Adele, Meg, and more!) has given me faith in the women’s game at all levels.

What’s the story behind teaming up with Gabby Howell of Dartford FC?

In May 2022, Alex replied to a story in the Mirror about Gabby, who was getting sexist comments. The article supportively mentioned Ella’s story of being bullied, which went viral and led to some amazing opportunities with West Ham, Seaward, Her Game Too, Dartford, and of course Gabby. 

Gabby has become a friend and a big sister to Ella since we met. She is an amazing woman who has been with us since the start 

When she left Sutton, we even stuck in some good words with Dartford to get her to visit Ella’s favourite team and the rest is history!

The typography is very fun and dynamic in how it weaves around the illustrations. Whose idea was it to present it that way?

Yes, so Alex came up with that while speaking to Taaya the illustrator about how to present the book in a fun way. The results are very unique and we hope children enjoy the engaging story along with how the words play with the pictures. 

Again, it’s something unique we wanted to add to the reading experience.

Lastly, how does the real Ella feel about being the star of your book?

I don’t think she has quite took it all in yet, she smiles and laughs when she sees things about the book and her Instagram following has gone crazy which we help her with, she likes to reply to all the people who message her in support and recently hit 54,000 views on a video so she tells all her friends about that! 

Ella is very humble and what this has shown us is that exposing her to football, women, photoshoots, sports and books has made it all seem “normal” to her which is what we always aimed for. 

She is a budding singer too and due to her confidence managed to win a singing contest on holiday which is something she would have never done over a year ago  

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