Exclusive: Everton & England's Rachel Brown-Finnis on How Women's Game Has Grown

It is "Inside Everton Week" all this week on Bleacher Report, and on Wednesday we talked to recently retired Everton Ladies goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis about retirement, her career and the exciting recent developments in the women's game.

FINCH FARM, Halewood — Tim Howard is not the only great goalkeeper Everton Football Club have on their books. Former England and Great Britain goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis was a fixture in the Everton Ladies team for a number of years before retiring at the end of 2014 as the stresses and strains of a 20-year career in football took their toll on her body.

That long career, which saw her win 82 caps for her country, has given the 34-year-old a great perspective on the state of the women’s game and the progress it has made over the past decade—particularly in England, where the introduction of the FA Women’s Super League has quickly ushered the game toward a fully professional era.

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Rachel Brown-Finnis was proud to attend Everton’s Ladies Lunch at the Hilton @evertonoptimum http://t.co/cKL1N3XdpG pic.twitter.com/1Ys0m5DeVT

— Everton Ladies (@EvertonLadies) January 30, 2015"

With many Premier League clubs focusing time, money and resources toward their ladies team, this offseason has seen a number of clubs make eye-catching signings of some of the best talent both domestically and internationally, replicating what we have seen in the men's game for a number of seasons.

Entering its fifth season, the WSL is clearly going from strength to strength, something Brown-Finnis is delighted to see.

“The fact we are attracting players from all over the world, that doesn’t happen without big investment from clubs, big media coverage,” Brown-Finnis told Bleacher Report. “So there are so many things that have rocketed over the last five years. Hopefully it will continue to develop.

“It is probably now one of the most competitive leagues in the world … now you are treated like a full-time footballer should be treated; where women’s football is at now is unbelievable, and I’m over the moon that it has got to professional status, pretty much, because we have worked really, really hard over the years.”

Retirement means that, in some ways, as one of the early pioneers—as a child, she briefly had to stop playing football because mixed teams were not allowed and there were no girls sides—Brown-Finnis is missing out on some of the fruits of her labour, but while she admits retirement is perhaps not quite the same as the men’s game, she is encouraged by the opportunities she has been presented with.

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“@LathomHS: On behalf of everyone at Lathom we would like to thank @rach_brown1 and @SkySportsLFS for a fab day pic.twitter.com/KfDw52XNef”

— Rachel Brown-Finnis (@rach_brown1) January 29, 2015"

She is now back at Everton as a club ambassador (believed to be the first such role in the women’s game in England) and works closely with a number of charities and organisations on numerous projects—as well as taking up a number of media opportunities that have already come her way.

“It’s a little different from the men’s side—I’m pretty much in full-time work now!” she joked. “It’s the break I think I needed, physically and mentally. It has given me the chance to start to look into the things I want to do in the future—it opens up opportunities to try things in the industry of football."

“I think I’m one of the first players who has finished playing to come back into football in an active role," she adds. "It’s only really now we are at a place where there are full-time women’s job available within women’s football. In the future, there will be more and more opportunities for women who have been involved, and sacrificed a lot, to stay within women’s football. I’m fortunate my career ending parallels [with that].”

Reflecting on her playing career, which saw her briefly play in the United States and Iceland as well as being one of the few people to represent both Everton and Liverpool, Brown-Finnis said two moments stand out: winning the FA Cup as part of the Toffees squad in 2005, and representing Great Britain at the London Olympics in 2012.

“Winning the FA Cup with Everton was unbelievable,” she said. “We were underdogs on more than one occasion. To do what was not expected of us, and for most of us it to be our first time winning the cup, it was quite special.

“[But] My top moment in football was probably the Olympics. With it being on home turf, the first-ever women’s team, it was unbelievable. To be a part of that when a few years before I had been considering retirement… for a number of reasons making the Olympic squad was the pinnacle.”

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Ireland's Stephanie Roche makes three ... er, man shortlist for Fifa Puskas Award for best goal. https://t.co/SU32RVEtWG

— Barry Glendenning (@bglendenning) December 1, 2014"

Now taking stock of the options open to her in retirement, Brown-Finnis is nevertheless hugely optimistic about the direction the women’s game is heading in. The WSL is attracting a stronger and stronger calibre of player, which she believes will only help British football in the long run, while the recent nomination of Stephanie Roche for the FIFA Puskas Award is an indication of the game’s growing profile on its own terms.

“It’s recognition,” she noted. “I don’t think there has to be a category for women’s goal of the year, or men’s goal of the year—it’s just goal of the year. I would never ever want any tokenism, but that was worthy of a vote and of coming second.

“It was brilliant to see it recognised—because a few years ago it probably wouldn’t have been.”

Watch the full video with Brown-Finnis above, as she reflects on her career, talks about her post-retirement opportunities, and offers insight into England's chances at the forthcoming Women's World Cup.