Insider Sport’s Matchday Programme offers a personal look at what sporting moments and figures have inspired industry stakeholders. Through candid reflections, the programme delves into the stories behind the inspirations that have shaped their perspectives and fuelled their passion for sports.
In this edition, Helen Ward, Head of Women’s Football at Watford FC, shares her admiration for Jessica Ennis-Hill, highlighting her remarkable achievements both on the track as a champion athlete and off the track as an inspiring mother.
Which athlete do you think demonstrated the best winning mentality throughout their career?
I might be biased because she is also a mother like myself, but Jessica Ennis-Hill for me is the epitome of a winner. Her 2012 Olympic performance was incredible, and then coming back after having her son to win Gold in the World Championships in 2015 was so inspiring.
Who was your childhood sports hero and why? Which of their sporting achievements had the biggest impact on you?
Weirdly, again, it’s a female track and field athlete! I just loved the Olympics and the first one I really remember was Barcelona in 1992 (showing my age!) where Sally Gunnell won Gold in the 400m hurdles. I then met her at the opening of a Health Shop in Watford.
I probably didn’t realise it at the time but the fact there was a female athlete featuring so prominently in the headlines was inspiring for me as a young girl. I didn’t have any female footballers to look up to, so she was the one I took a lot of inspiration from.
What sports team do you follow the closest? Is this a family team or local side etc, and what has been the biggest moment in your history of supporting this club?
I have always followed Watford FC and have had a season ticket since I was nine or 10. It is our local team, and I used to go to the games with my older brother. We still walk up to the ground together but we have seats in different areas of the stadium now.
There’s been plenty of ups and downs, there’s no doubt about that but the promotions – the Play-Off Finals in 1999 at the old Wembley and 2006 in Cardiff were so special but watching my club reach their first FA Cup Final in 2019 was amazing.
Ok, the final itself wasn’t what we wanted but to be there and see my team play in the biggest domestic cup competition in the world is something I will never forget.
Is there a team manager from any sport, whether that be football, rugby, NFL, NBA etc, who you think demonstrated the best leadership qualities?
I always think of Sir Alex Ferguson when I see a question like this. The way he kept going and dominating English football over and over again. How he led a bunch of ‘kids’ to the title against the odds, I don’t think there have been many better leaders.
Pep Guardiola is almost the modern version of Sir Alex, but he also has more riches at his disposal, so for me, the way Sir Alex handled himself, the players and the media was exceptional. He knew how to back his team in front of the camera but away from the spotlight, he demanded the absolute best from his players day in, day out.
What sports tournament do you think consistently provides the biggest thrills? Which moment from this league stood out to you the most in recent memory?
It’s hard for me to look beyond football as I am so embedded in it. So I’d have to say the Premier League is right up there and I think the Leicester City win in 2015/16 is something that not many other top-flight leagues will see. They were supposed to be battling it out in the lower half of the table and yet here they were, with a squad assembled on a shoestring budget compared to their competitors, winning the league by 10 points!
As well as football, it would be the Olympics for me which is probably unsurprising. London 2012 and ‘Super Saturday’ will live long in the memory.
If you could travel back in time to any historic sporting moment to watch it then and now, which would it be and why?
That’s a really tough one! I think I would like to go back only to 2016 and be at the game where Wales beat Belgium 3-1 in the Euros quarter-final. It was such a pivotal moment in Welsh sport, not only football. Belgium was a star-studded team where Wales was playing in its first-ever Euros and first major tournament since 1958. I watched the game on TV but I wish I could have been there.
If you could go out for dinner with any sporting figure, current or historical, who would it be and what would you want to learn from them?
Maybe Ennis-HilI. I know I have spoken about her already but I just think it would be so interesting to hear not only about her medals and successes but also the journeys she went on, injuries, pregnancies etc.
The thing I’d love to learn the most is how she would split her training between the seven events to make sure she is doing enough in all of them to be the best out there across all the events.
To read the last edition of the Matchday Programme, featuring James Flude, Head of Business Development at MatchWornShirt, who shared how a player’s shirt sparked his career today, click HERE.
