Everton and Wales forward Hannah Cain on two ACL injuries, the penalty that helped Wales reach their first Euros and why coming back to Everton feels like growth.
I’vewantedtoretirequiteafewtimesinthosemoments.Hannah Cain
Ahead of Everton’s game against Aston Villa on Sunday, Hannah Cain takes us through her footballing moments, from coming back from two ACL injuries, to help writing a new chapter in Welsh football history.
Now back at Everton, where she signed her first professional contract, the Wales forward reflects on the toughest days, the people who got her through them and why the best might be yet to come.
Do you remember the first team you ever played for?
Yeah, it was a little boys’ team called Scawthorpe Scorpions, and I loved it. I was only four or five. My brother's four years older than me, so he was in an older age group. And that's really how I got into football and it kind of took off from there.
What was that experience like? Were you the only girl in the boys’ team?
I think, when I was in the moment, I didn't really care – I was a four- or five-year-old little girl. I just wanted to run around. But the older I got, the more you would see boys making comments like, ‘Oh, she's the only girl.’ And then the game would start. And normally it's the case the girls are the better players on the team, and then the boys moan. But it's not like that now. To see the growth in the women’s game is amazing. And the fact that girls nowadays can be in their own team and it's just getting bigger and bigger, it's amazing to see.
At what point did football go from being your passion to something you wanted to do for your career?
I think, because I started so young, I had a talent, and when you are naturally gifted in things like that, it's easy to then follow that. Starting at such a young age, I was learning those skills growing up and that was a massive part of making football a career. And then I absolutely loved it. I fell in love with the game and football and always wanted to play it. I didn't want to do anything else. I was in every single football kit possible. And that has honestly just been my life since I was that young. It's been non-stop ever since.
Have you always played in one position on the pitch?
No, I think I started centrally as a forward and then moved out wide, and then I just float between those positions now still. So not too much movement along the forward line, to be honest.
This summer, you re-signed for Everton from Leicester. Tell us about that moment.
So I actually signed my first pro contract here. I think it was like eight or nine years ago now. That was an amazing experience: I was very young, I'd been in the Championship for a couple of years and the gap was huge. Especially then, this is like eight or nine years ago, it was so different. I'd gone from just playing and training a couple of times a week and playing on the weekend to ‘This is your life every single minute of the day’. And the gap at a young age was quite big. I don't think I really got a great experience in those first two years, but I learned a lot. And then obviously I moved to Leicester, played there for six years and I grew so much as a player.
I learned so much, had a couple of injuries. But then, obviously now coming back here, I feel like I'm a much more grown human. I've learned so much on and off the pitch. I feel like I'm a proper adult now, which I am. But yeah, it's amazing to come back here and the facilities are as good as I remember.
You talk about growth, both personally and professionally. As a footballer, how did you grow during your time at Leicester?
Like I say, I went through a couple of injuries. I had two ACLs. I had a foot injury when I first joined. I've had three major surgeries in the space of my time at Leicester and that was quite difficult. And they're all long-term injuries. But I'm proud of myself for coming back every time and still being able to perform at this level and at international level too. So it's a big achievement for me.
Everybody goes through that. Hopefully I'm done now and that's me done with the injuries and that I can get a good few years now out of my career where I'm really thriving. But they were probably the real moments that changed me as a person. As a player, you learn so much when you're off the pitch. Sometimes it can be hard to then want to come back from injuries – I've wanted to retire quite a few times in those moments. But I think it's best to always wait until you're out of the dark as such, to then see if you want to carry on or not. And every time I've been out of that place I've enjoyed football again.
You say you didn’t know whether to be a part of football anymore during your injury rehabilitation. Why was that?
I think after the first one, it was mentally tough to go through such a long injury. I was still quite young. And then there are days where you're like, ‘Oh, I just cannot do this anymore’. I don't know what the word is, but life is just the same every single minute of every single day. And it does get really tough. And then to be injured a second time, you just think, ‘No, I'm done.’ But as an athlete, a professional athlete at an elite level, you have a mentality that not many people have, and the hunger and the drive to be successful.
I don't actually know what I would do without having an everyday schedule. In the summer, no one's telling me where to be, what to do, what to eat, and I miss that. I miss the schedule. So you learn a lot off the pitch and you have a lot of time to appreciate what you miss. And some days you just think, ‘I don't actually miss it.’ But it's just the process and you have to get through that process. And if you don't, then maybe it's time to call it quits. But after experience, I've been through that process for a little while and I got out of that.
In those tough moments, is there a person or a friend who you can confide in the most?
Yeah, for sure. My family have been the biggest support for me and my close friends. I think you always have to have a circle and mine's pretty small. When you're an athlete, it's quite difficult to get people that are genuine around you. So having them, people that have been with you when you were no one, they're good to stick around and go back to as a comfort.
In your career, if you reflect on your experiences so far, is there a moment you would like to go back and revisit?
When I came back from my second ACL, we had an international break and I scored a penalty that helped us qualify for the Euros. That was an amazing moment for me. I'd been through so much – on the pitch, off the pitch, everything. I'd come back from my second major injury. And some people always doubt you, whether you can be back to that level. But yeah, to score in that moment and be such a massive part of Welsh history is something that can never be taken away and something that I'll forever be proud of.
How do you reflect on that experience of being part of a historic Welsh journey?
Yeah, it's just incredible. No amount of words can describe it. We were the first ever women's team to qualify for the Euros for Wales, and to be able to have had a moment like scoring is incredible for me. And like I say, that will never go away. And then obviously we went to the Euros. We had a really tough group, but scoring against England… me and Jess [Fishlock] scored the first goals for Wales Women in the tournament. So again, it's an amazing achievement for me and something I'll be forever proud of.
How do you reflect on Euro 2025? Was it a missed opportunity or an opportunity for growth?
It was our first major tournament. We had a lot of learnings to do and things like that. You always make mistakes and you grow and you learn what you should do better, what you did do well – that's important to focus on as well, not always what should have been better. You have to acknowledge the growth it took to get there and then how well you've done there. And we were in a really tough group. But that's what you want. You want to be in those competitions and the next one’s obviously going to be the World Cup. I’m looking forward to that too.
If there's one piece of advice you could give to a young girl who's looking to get into football, what would that be?
I would say when you're young, just enjoy it and work hard. If it's something that you really want to do, you have to put in the work and you have to sacrifice so much, but those sacrifices will be worth it in the end if it's really what you want to do. But the main thing is just having fun. And when the moments do get tough – because every player in the elite environment, every athlete, has tough moments and it's not always what you see on social media, there are really tough times – I’d say lean on your friends, lean on your family, and just never forget why you started in the first place. And it'll always bring you back to being happy.
