North Carolina Courage’s Millie Farrow admits it is “crazy” to see how far she has come following struggles with her mental health.
Having started playing football from an early age, Farrow joined Chelsea’s centre of excellence before signing her first professional contract at 19.
Despite the enjoyment she got from the game, she began to struggle with panic attacks from as young as 10 and was later diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder.
Farrow’s struggles led her to write a book, Brave Enough Not to Quit, which was published earlier this year, and she said it was emotional to see how far she had come.
The 27-year-old said: “I’ve done the book, but I’m continuing with the career, all the struggles and stuff I wrote about, I’m still living with them.
“But I’m dealing with them so much better, which has resulted in me being able to live a much happier life and a much more stress-free life.
“It’s crazy to see how far I’ve come and to look back.
“It’s emotional to read about your own story and remind yourself of the really difficult situations I’ve been in and the really tough places I’ve dragged myself out of.”
Although her struggles began when she was 10, it took Farrow until she was 14 to ask her parents for help.
The forward played for Chelsea, Reading and Leicester in the Women’s Super League, but it took a long time to adjust to playing and coping with her OCD.
“As my career started to get more serious, so did the anxiety and the OCD,” she said.
“Because it’s a stress-related illness, it’s very hard to control and deal with, especially when you’re in a high-pressure career and a lot of that came down to me putting pressure on myself.
“It took me a long time to adjust to playing with OCD and still trying to be 100 per cent, give 100 per cent effort, perform at 100 per cent while having these battles in my head and it was extremely hard to do.”
Farrow believes even a couple of years ago she would not have managed to make the move to America, where she now plays for National Women’s Soccer League side North Carolina Courage.
“It’s not an easy life here – I’m fighting for a spot, I’m competing and trying to prove myself in a new team, new environment, new league,” she added.
“I’m away from family and friends, building a life in a completely different country, it’s not an easy thing to do and it’s something I never thought I’d be able to do.
“Two or three years ago I would look at that challenge and think there’s no way I’d survive or be able to do it without wanting to come home.
“Even though the story is based on being a professional footballer or the journey that I went through to get there, this kind of story can resonate with anyone.”
The profile of women’s football in England has increased markedly in recent years and Farrow believes players have “adapted” to the growth of the game, with all eyes set to be on this summer’s World Cup, which gets under way in Australia and New Zealand next month.
“I went to a lot of the games in the Euros (in 2022), the atmosphere was insane – filling out stadiums, seeing how the public reacted to it and how many fans,” she said.
“Everyone’s kind of jumping on the women’s football bandwagon now, whereas a few years ago it wasn’t televised as much, media coverage wasn’t there and now that’s completely changed in a matter of years.
“It’s definitely important for the girls to have that kind of support, but because they’ve been in the game since a young age and they’ve gone through the age groups, academies and England age groups as well, they are well prepared for something like this.
“You can see the players have adapted and are adapting to the amount of media coverage they’re getting. They’re essentially celebrities now, they’re famous.”
