What Toni Duggan did after Everton loss shows why she deserves legend status as exit confirmed

Following Everton Women's narrow defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last October, Toni Duggan walked into the media suite at Walton Hall Park with a special visitor in tow.

The striker had just made her first competitive appearance for the Blues in more than a year, having missed the entirety of the previous campaign after becoming pregnant with her first child. But, six months on from giving birth, Duggan returned to action against the Seagulls and, as she sat down with the Liverpool ECHO and a handful of other publications after the match, she had her daughter - Luella - on her lap.

It was a small gesture but its significance was impossible to overstate. Here was an elite athlete, competing at the highest level of the English women's game, while also learning to navigate motherhood.

READ MORE: Everton legend Toni Duggan to leave club this summer

READ MORE: Man United sent blunt transfer message after Everton turn down Branthwaite offer

It was a sight that would have been almost inconceivable even a few years ago but now here was Duggan, part of an exclusive club of female players whose refreshing transparency is slowly but surely helping to break the taboo. “Whether it took me six months, 12 months or 12 weeks to get back, it’s still a big achievement," she said.

"For the girls out there that have done it before me and the girls that will do it in future, it’s powerful and I’m proud to be one of those women now. But this is only the start. I still feel good in myself. I’m 32 now, you see a lot of players playing until they’re 35, 36. It shouldn’t be held against you that I’ve had a baby or my age."

It was not the first time Duggan had advocated for the importance of starting a meaningful dialogue about motherhood in sport. In November 2022, the forward opened up about the early stages of her pregnancy, admitting she "didn't really know who to tell and when to tell them."

She voiced her incredulity at the fact improved maternity measures, entitling players to 100% of their weekly wage for 14 weeks, had only been introduced by the Football Association (FA) that same year, and highlighted a need to establish a more formal blueprint for how players train and stay fit during pregnancy.

A BBC Sport study released this March found that a third of British sportswomen surveyed said they had delayed starting a family because of their sporting career. And yet here is Duggan, proving that becoming a parent and being a professional footballer are not mutually exclusive entities.

It is a typically trailblazing approach from a player who has become something of a pioneer of the women's game, her career having straddled both the amateur and professional eras of the sport. Duggan, a former pupil at Notre Dame Catholic College, came through Everton's youth ranks before making her senior debut at the age of 16.

She was named FA Women’s Young Player of the Year in 2009 and, the following year, was part of the Everton team that lifted the Women's FA Cup. Further success followed at Manchester City, where she won the Women's Super League (WSL), and then at Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

On the international stage, too, Duggan left her mark, earning 79 senior caps and starring as the Lionesses secured a third-place finish at the 2015 Women's World Cup. She returned to Everton in 2021 and made a further 14 appearances in all competitions this term following that cameo against Brighton.

That most of those appearances came from the bench perhaps offers an insight into why Everton and Duggan have decided to part ways this summer, following the expiration of her contract.

“Everyone at Everton thanks Toni for her service and commitment to the club," Alan McTavish, Everton Women Chief Executive Officer, said after Duggan's impending departure was confirmed on Wednesday. “From breaking into the Senior Team as a 16-year-old, to winning the FA Cup, she can be very proud of her contribution to Everton. We wish Toni all the best for the future.”

What the future holds for Duggan remains to be seen. The 32-year-old tried her hand at punditry during her pregnancy and her standing within the women's game is such that there will likely be plenty of avenues available to her, both on and off the pitch.

“I feel good and I just want to kick on from here and just be treated as just another player," she said last October. "It’s great I’ve got Luella, but I’m a footballer and I want to be judged by how I do on the pitch. I’m ready for that challenge. I love football, it’s been my life and I hope that it can continue.”

Whatever comes next, though, Duggan's legacy as an Everton great is secured and she has taught a whole generation of girls - on Merseyside and beyond - that with hard work, belief and a bit of Scouse grit, anything is possible.