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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Kate Ng

‘I was the David Beckham’: Model Sam Fox reminisces about her football days

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Samantha Fox has revealed that she used to play for Arsenal Women’s Football Club, as the UK continues to celebrate the England Women’s team’s Euro 2022 final triumph.

The 56-year-old model and singer reminisced about her time in the club before leaving the sport because she was apparently too small.

Fox found fame in the early 1980s as a Page 3 model in The Sun newspaper, before she went on to have a career as a singer.

In an appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB) on Monday (1 August), she said: “Women’s football has come so far since I played. It’s just amazing.

“I was number seven. I was the David Beckham. I was a great player.

“The only thing against me was being tiny because the girls used to be so big when they used to attack me, I quickly learned to do nutmegs, which were through the legs and run around,” she continued.

Her comments come after the England Lionesses beat Germany 2-1 on Sunday (31 July), securing the first major tournament title for the UK since 1966.

They played in front of a record 87,000 supporters at Wembley Stadium, with the game also drawing a peak of 17.5 million TV viewers.

In the same interview, Fox also opened up about finding love again after losing her former partner, Myra Stratton, to cancer in 2015.

She is now married to Linda Olsen, who she met in Norway after the latter bought “meet and greet” tickets to a concert Fox was performing at.

“At the grand old age of 56, I mean, I’ve always wanted to be married, always,” Fox told GMB host Richard Madeley.

“I was nearly married before but something very unfortunate happened, and then I met lovely Linda six years ago and never looked back.

“Love at first sight, I would say,” she added.

The couple married on 18 June after postponing their wedding due to the Covid pandemic.

Fox reflected on the progress of marriage equality for LGBT+ communities and said: “It’s amazing that it wasn’t legal 50 years ago, because we believe that love is love.”

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