Premier League Trophy Hunters: The Women Who Would Be WAGs

At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the wives and girlfriends of the England team descended on provincial Baden-Baden for a few weeks. These women were snapped by paparazzi looking effortlessly perfect, huge sunglasses covering their eyes and shoulders sloping under the weight of designer bags.

The term "WAG" was coined. You'll find it in the Collins English Dictionary, defined as "the wife or girlfriend of a famous sportsman."

Some girls suddenly had a new "occupation" of choice to go after on careers day. There used to be a tongue-in-cheek group on Facebook called "When I grow up I want to be a WAG." There was even an instructional book called WAG Don’t Wannabe—The Smart Girl's Guide to Dating a Footballer.

A survey of 2,000 20-something women by More magazine in 2009 revealed six out of 10 polled wanted to be a WAG (h/t the Independent). Their dream was to be "shopping and partying with their mates and [have] a gorgeous, preferably rich, bloke on their arm," wrote editor Donna Armstrong.

Not surprisingly, the pursuit of WAG status has become a serious business. These women in towns and cities up and down the UK want to make sure that when they do make eye contact with the 19-year-old Premier League hotshot, they look their alluring best.

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Not that these women are always meeting players in such old-fashioned ways. The new breed of wannabe is using social media; a woman must have fast fingers on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and dating sites to be successful at the art. Many aspiring WAGs' phones are loaded with a thousand stored selfies—some nude, some skimpily clad—to help get them what they want: a Premier League footballer's mobile number.

Then there are the agents of glamour models and actresses who see dollar signs. They share the ambition of their clients. Just like they are excited by Victoria Beckham and Coleen Rooney and what their marriages have done for their careers, the suits can envisage a stratospheric rise were a client to be paired with a footballer. In this regard, it has become an industry within an industry.

Aspiring to the likes of Rooney, Alex Gerrard and Abbey Crouch has motivated a generation of young women to believe a footballer is a dream-maker. But such lofty aspirations can lead to delusions. As a result, we find a split in WAG-culture ideology between those whose careers and current success fit the mold set by Rooney, Beckham et al. and those who appear to be in the hunt for a simpler means of achieving a luxurious lifestyle.

In reaction, the Professional Footballers' Association is at pains to remind players of their responsibilities and of "making the right choice." But they are careful not to portray footballers as targets, even though some of them, such as former Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur player Rohan Ricketts, told Bleacher Report that careers and lives can be, and have been, ruined by "a conveyor belt of women on a night out."

Cristina—not her real name—is playing the long game. The 26-year-old wants to be with a footballer because "they can teach us a lot." They are well-travelled, she told me.

"They have seen places most of us will never go to, all over the world. They are very intelligent people. They know what they want. I think that is attractive. And best of all, when they retire at 35, I can travel the world with them and be as cultured as them."

Cristina left her native Romania six years ago to pursue her ambition of snaring a footballer. She has "always loved football" and is wistful when recalling sitting around the television set with her father watching Steaua Bucharest. "They were my father's favourite team," she said. "He also liked Arsenal and lots of English teams."

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But Cristina, unlike her dad, is more choosy when it comes to her pursuit. "I don't want a young footballer because they are not mature enough," she said. "But they have to understand that I like to be silly sometimes. That is my personality so someone who is young at heart. I think 40 is too old. I don't want a retired player.

"I've been looking all my life. The more footballers I've got to know, the more fussy I have become."

She laughs wildly at this. "It's not just 'I'll put my fake tan on and get myself a footballer.' I'm taking it more seriously."

If watching the game started her obsession, then the popular ITV series Footballers' Wives intensified it: "That show started young girls dreaming. Such a lavish, high-quality lifestyle. It is enticing, that lifestyle."

Cristina dreams of marrying a footballer and then emulating Posh Spice by launching her own design line.

She has befriended a host of footballers to better understand what makes them tick, how she should behave and why "bringing a bottle of wine under £30 to one of their parties would be so embarrassing." She's trusted now. On the inside. She's what some are calling a "sleeper"—on the hunt for a footballer using a more covert and tactical approach.

She works for an accountancy firm and says most of her friends play in the Championship, the tier below the Premier League. "They are not big, household names, but they are very rich. They will spend on a party what I earn in a year. They are normal people. But I can tell a footballer from the way they look, the designer clothes they wear.

"It was my strategy to meet footballers as friends, hang out and then meet more of them through those connections. You still need a spark. You've got to connect. I have met some lovely players, and it didn't work out because the spark wasn't there."

So where does Cristina go in Liverpool with her squad of Championship players? Pubs or clubs? And what strategies does she employ in a fiercely competitive marketplace?

"I've been lucky to know when and where to go because of my friends. There are loads of bars they go to and local pubs just for an evening out. But when you are there with them, within an hour suddenly all these young girls arrive.

"Word has got around they are there, and they all turn up, dressed up and glowing—too orange because of too much fake tan. Liverpool is famous for a fake tan. Girls here, they look so unnatural."

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Cristina talks of the competitiveness between the girls—the quest to be the queen among queens and the very real cost of putting the perfect look together. This is the world of £1,000 hair extensions, £200 eyelashes, sunbed sessions and hundreds spent on dresses and the right heels.

"They circle the player," she told Bleacher Report. "This is when the girls all crowd round so no one else can get to him or see him. It is a tactic. Other times they will try to get into the VIP room to meet them. And they will do anything to the bouncer whose job it is to keep them out. They will wait at the toilets outside to talk to the players when they go in.

"I know players who are married [who] are very famous and they like young girls while there is a wife at home.

"When the girls don't get to talk with the player, they fight. They are drunk. They have spent a lot of money and they have not got what they wanted, so of course it is feisty."

A new world has opened up for women such as Cristina, who increasingly search for players online. "It's easier," she said. "And cheaper. You can send them pictures, your telephone number, flirty messages. They will respond if they like you. It's just like going out to a club or bar. I’ve sent pictures to players but not naked ones."

Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are the usual suspects, but Cristina insisted players also use dating sites such as Sugardaddie.com and Eharmony.com.

She told of a friend who found and dated a footballer via Sugardaddie. Apparently the players don't publish pictures of their face, but if you know what to look for, it's easy to know when you've found a footballer's profile on the site.

"People think Sugardaddie is just a site for sex. OK, it is. But there are people on there who are looking for dates. People go there because they know it's for rich people. Footballers go there because they know the right sort of woman uses it."

Eleanor, 26, also uses social media to find footballers but without success. "It's always English players," she said. "They respond, ask for pictures, you chat—they ask where you live [and] when are you coming to a game—and then they ask for your number. But when you give it to them, they never respond. It's frustrating because you want that opportunity to prove that you're not like all the other girls."

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Eleanor insisted she is different. She is high-powered. A city broker, she said she wants a footballer to keep her in the style to which she has become accustomed and that looking for a rich footballing husband is about being "empowered."

"I hate the term WAG," she told Bleacher Report. "I'm successful, so why shouldn't I date someone who is as successful? A lot of the WAGs own their own businesses, do a lot more than hang out in tanning shops. A lot are more intelligent than the footballers. It's about more than a pretty face and a good body. You've got to bring more to the plate than a pair of big boobs.

"Posh has outstripped her husband. Footballers can propel a woman in her career. You can go where you want. You don't want to be the one who has nothing and he's the only reason you're living that lifestyle. You can't say Becks made Posh. She did it herself. She was somebody."

Eleanor employs the usual strategies when on a night out. She says trying to get into the players' lounge at games is a good start, and then you hear of the clubs they go to.

"Anywhere in Mayfair in London—Funky Buddha, DSTRKT, RS Lounge," she said. "Some clubs are so exclusive they don't let footballers in. But I always get in."

But it's also about having the right attitude once you find yourself in the right place at the right time, she said.

"The biggest mistake to make when you see one in a bar is to say 'You're a footballer,' and they will reckon, 'Oh God, here's another one—she's gonna be a model or an actress.' You want to be someone else, not like all the other hundreds. Talk about your work. I'm a career woman. Yes, I've been a model and an actress, but I'm more than that. Make them think, 'Who is this person?'

"And don't be on the scene every night at the same clubs. They get bored of you. Give yourself a bit of mystery. The players will feel more comfortable talking to you. 'She's got a job. She's occupied.' They then chase you. Reverse psychology."

Eleanor has not got what she's looking for yet. One top footballer she dated was "so boring" because all he could talk about was "training this and training that. The guy had nothing to say. I need someone with a bit of culture; I'm hoping to find a footballer who does oil painting on a Sunday."

Others she has met online have proved to be untrustworthy. "One guy from Instagram was a liar," she said. "I found out via a gossip site that he had got a girl pregnant. He was always cheating. It was disgusting. So I asked him and then he ignored me. He got that post on the gossip site removed. He unfollowed me and I thought, 'Whatever.' A lucky escape again."

Eleanor says she can spot the players who are only after sex. "They don't come back to you if they are getting those vibes. I definitely know what the good side would be and the bad side would be if I was married to a footballer. I know there are girls who will try to jump on him.

"You've gotta make sure everyone knows you are with him. There are girls who will lie and try to sell stories, but you've gotta be supportive. It will be hard when starting the relationship, but when it's confirmed he wants you..."

Rohan Ricketts, once one of the hottest Premier League properties as a youngster with Arsenal and Tottenham, told Bleacher Report, "I was never interested in just meaningless sex. I was a charmer and wanted conversation, a connection. But if I wanted two or three girls a night? No problem. And guys I know did that.

"It can become a problem. An addiction. That impacts careers for sure because, for those guys, great play, if you get me, was a consequence of great work on the pitch. But when it just becomes about the play, the work suffers and they don't work that out. I've also heard of honey traps, blackmail plots. A guy picks up a girl, and he goes back with her. When he gets there, some heavies are waiting for him and he's robbed. So you've got to be real smart."

One agent to Premier League footballers says footballers prey on the desperation. They know the women want marriage and kids, but first they just need one chance to impress. From the VIP room, scouts are sent out to pick up the hottest women.

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"It's shocking," he told Bleacher Report. "They are falling over themselves. It's hard to understand how hard it would be for a young man to abstain. The guys can do what they want in these clubs because of the amount of revenue they generate—they have a cordoned-off section. Now what the girls will do to get in that cordoned-off area is, well, mind-boggling. Anything. Eh-nee-thing. They will get in there for all they're worth.

"The scout is in charge of 'quality control.' It can work both ways. The killer line is, 'What would Peter Crouch have been if he wasn't a footballer? A virgin.' There are guys who have always been successful with women, but when they become footballers, suddenly they are all blessed."

Often, it is left to managers and coaches to pick up the pieces. One former Premier League and Football League manager, who has been in charge at four clubs over nine years, has had to warn players of their conduct almost on a monthly basis.

"You sit them down and tell them, 'This is your career you're messing with.' It can get out of hand," he told Bleacher Report. "They all know there are women out there who, for want of a better word, target them. And that's not me blaming women because these boys encourage that."

The consequence is that managers prefer married and settled players. "If I had a choice between a player who married and one was single, I'd sign the hitched one every single time," he said. "Without doubt. So you see, it really does have an impact."

There is another level to this game. The best Premier League talent has the pick of the most attractive women in the country: the actresses, reality stars and glamour models. And in the middle is the agent to the stars looking to exploit the business.

Greg is an agent for well-known glamour models, and he freely admits he calls footballers' agents to see if they would like to date his starlet. "It could be great for both our people and their careers," he said. "At the end of the day, if I have a girl who is on the arm of a Premier League footballer, she’s going to get more work. The lads’ mags will know their readers will want to see what the player is getting to see, if you know what I mean.

"Surely this isn't a surprise? This is business. A lot of the supposed relationships you read about are manufactured by the agents. Both parties are benefiting. Even in the short term. And I can see why there are some young girls in Liverpool or wherever who would think, 'I'd like a slice of that.' Famous for five minutes? They'd take it in a shot."

Another agent, Steven, said he sometimes receives calls from footballers' agents to set them up with his glamour models: "We had an England striker's representative on the phone. For that girl it ended up being a positive. She was on his arm and it was only for a short time, but people thought a commitment had been made."

Celebrity, money, sex and youth can be a disastrous mix. The Professional Footballers' Association is working hard to educate players about how they should and shouldn't behave. But the body is at pains to point out it does not warn players they will be "targeted" by women, emphasizing responsibility instead.

Mills & Reeve, a legal firm, was this year commissioned by the PFA to speak to players about the challenges they would face, including the rise of sexting and sextortion—players taking naked pictures of themselves or women and the pressure from team-mates to share them.

Senior associate Matthew Chantler, who delivered some of the seminars, told Bleacher Report, "It would have been totally wrong to tell players they were likely to be targeted by women. We didn't want to point fingers; we wanted these young men to take responsibility.

"Of course we've represented footballers who have been the subject of blackmail plots from women having slept with them, but those are few and far between. If players behave correctly and within the law, they will be fine."

Simon Barker, the assistant chief executive at the PFA, believes that although football is unique insofar as players even in provincial parts of the UK are celebrities—"In some areas these guys are heroes, so if you are a music fan, it might be a bit like seeing Tom Jones in the local shop"—it is a problem attached to all high-earning industries.

"In the city of London, bankers earn a lot, and I would say there might be people who go out looking for them. Possibly the WAG culture has created this interest. You see the papers during the Rugby World Cup going, 'Look at the England WAGs.' A lot of them are lawyers and doctors, but they still call them WAGs.

"I'm sure there are people out there who want to grab themselves a husband, but is that not in all walks of life? You have got to give credit to footballers who work out who are the women who are there for the right reasons. We're trying to get players to listen and learn and help them."

Ed Hawkins is an author and freelance journalist based in London. All sources in this piece were gathered firsthand unless otherwise stated.