Page 14 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No10 2020/21

Early in the month of February, it was announced that Loren
Dykes was to retire from playing football at the age of 33. Since
coming to prominence as a teenager with Cardiff City, Loren
moved on to Bristol Academy (now Bristol City) where she
played in two FA Women’s Cup Finals and nearly won the FA
WSL in 2013. She went on to captain the team until the end of
her career.
She went on to be capped by her country at a young age
and became the second player after Jessica Fishlock to be
capped 100 times by Wales, male or female (they have since
been joined by Sophie Ingle).
Off the field, Loren looks to inspire the stars of the
future, with coaching roles for the Wales U15s and the Bristol
City senior team in the WSL. As well as coaching, Loren is also
an ambassador for Street Football Wales, a social inclusion
charity that delivers football to socially excluded individuals throughout Wales. As part of her
role, she was an ambassador for the 2019 Homeless World Cup held in Cardiff in July. She has
also made several fundraising ventures for charity, inluding once climbing Mount Kilimanjaro,
and she was awarded an MBE in 2019 for services to women's football in Wales.
One of the most popular, and without doubt the nicest and most modest player in the
women’s game, Loren kindly agreed to an interview in which she looks back on her playing
career and how she hopes to make a contribution through coaching in the future:
WSS: Loren, thanks for talking to us. How tough a decision was it for you to make
to announce your retirement?
LD: Well, firstly let me start by saying I knew at the start of the last season that it was going
to be my last, obviously with COVID-19 happening that just brought a little bit of an earlier end
to my career than expected but I knew it was time, mentally and physically. The hardest part
was accepting that others might not understand that this was the best decision for me, and the
timing of me finishing was far from ideal being in the middle of a Wales qualifying campaign
which had obviously been prolonged due to COVID-19. I never intended to leave halfway
through a campaign, and I think some people thought I would do another year with Bristol
City with the season being forced to end. I tried to keep going because I was worried about
what others thought too much, but it was very clear to me that whilst my love for the game is
still burning strong, I knew I was ready to hang up the playing boots.
I accepted that it was the right decision for me and that was what was most
important. As someone who doesn’t really like a lot of fuss, I didn’t really want to announce it
- I would have happily just left that part out and carried on with my life. I have no problem
talking about it, I just really hate fuss; it’s probably why you don’t see many of these interviews
about! But the more coaching I started doing, the more I needed to just draw the line under the
playing days.
WSS: When you took your first steps at the start of your career, could you ever
have envisaged how things turned out?
LD: Never, because I had no big dream of becoming a professional footballer, it’s not
something that was even an option! I’m not even sure I would call myself that at the end of my
career to be honest. All I knew growing up was that I loved playing football, I enjoyed a
challenge and proving people wrong and I’ve managed to make a career out of that somehow.
WSS: Can you remember when you won your first senior cap for Wales?
LD: I do vividly, it was against Holland away. I remember I’d been on a few senior camps
before this happened, once even warming up as a sub and about to go on the pitch only for the
fourth official to turn around and tell our coach we had already made three subs, that was fun!
Issue no. 10 - 4 March 2021 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk