The next player we spoke to for our ‘Getting to know Chelsea Women’ feature is Deanna Cooper and she gives us insight into her life on and off the pitch…
Among her answers, the 26-year-old defender shares what she is watching on Netflix, who her favourite footballer growing up was and what her hobbies are...
What series are you watching at the moment?
I’m watching Power at the moment and I’m rewatching Prison Break. It’s so good, it’s one of my favourites of all time.
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
My mum!
Who do you sit with on away trips and how do you pass the time?
I sit next to Guro [Reiten] and opposite Magda [Eriksson] and Jonna [Andersson] or sometimes Ji [So-Yun]. It depends who is there and to pass the time I take my iPad and watch films or whatever series I’m watching at the time.
What is your biggest achievement?
It has to be signing for Chelsea!
Are you good at any other sports?
I am good at cricket, I played at England academy level. The new England manager used to be my academy coach and she’s amazing.
What made you choose football over cricket?
Well, I actually didn’t. I chose cricket over football and then I got injured so I couldn’t really play cricket to the level I wanted to so I decided to pursue football.
What is your favourite cuisine?
It has to be Chinese food.
Did you study at university?
I did, I studied PE and Sports Science at Canterbury Christchurch.
Who was your favourite footballer growing up and why?
Faye White because she was England’s best defender when I started playing football and I really looked up to her.
Tell us some interesting facts about you…
I used to be a trampolinist, I have travelled to some really cool places like India and South Africa. Oh and I’m a massive Harry Potter fan.
What is your favourite location to visit?
My favourite place to visit is probably Table Mountain in Cape Town, it’s pretty cool there.
What are your future aspirations?
To get an England call up!
Can you play any instruments?
I am actually learning to play the piano at moment. I used to play a little bit when I was younger and obviously we get a lot of time off so I am learning the piano.
Other than the piano, what do you do in your spare time?
I was learning French but it got to the point where I needed to go to France so I started learning a bit of Swedish because obviously we have got a lot of Scandinavian girls.
Favourite lesson at school?
Design technology or PE, it’s a toss-up between the two.