Fran Steele: Combining a medical degree & a career in the FA Women's National League

When Cambridge City player Fran Steele sat down to speak to 90min, it was a Tuesday evening and she had just returned home from a GP placement as part of her medical degree.

It gave an instant snapshot of just how busy her life is, combining a career in the FA Women’s National League – the third and fourth tiers on the English league ladder – with studying at the University of Cambridge and even captaining the university football team.

Most people would wilt under the pressure of juggling so much. But Steele, a former England youth international at various age groups, thrives instead.

“It’s difficult. I’m not saying it’s easy or I don’t get stressed. I’m not saying I sometimes think I need to give something up. I’d be kidding myself,” she admits. “But it’s a matter of using it as fuel and motivation. I do thrive off being busy and having a routine.”

Steele even goes as far to say that her football, although taking up a lot of time, actually helps.

“I love exercise,” she explains. “It’s a social, physical and mental thing, gives me endorphins. I think I’m more productive when I do exercise and playing a team sport. I couldn’t say I’d do much better at medicine if I didn’t play. Ultimately I am more productive [because of football].”

Steele began her football career at the age of five just playing at grassroots level for her local village team. But in attending to a football camp in the school holidays to keep her occupied so that her mum could go to work, the youngster was spotted by a scout involved with Ipswich.

She played with Ipswich girls until the age of 14 and was called up to England’s youth setup. A move to Arsenal then came about when the Centre of Excellence at Ipswich closed, successfully trialling with the Gunners to join their Under-17 team alongside future Lionesses captain Leah Williamson.

Steele would also go on to play for Arsenal at Under-19 and reserve team levels, before deciding to apply for college in the United States, where she attended the prestigious Yale University for four years and played collegiate soccer at the same time.

It is a relatively common path for young English players to take, with the sporting facilities and mentality at American universities usually tantamount to a professional setup. The likes of Lucy Bronze, Alessia Russo and several newer emerging WSL players have taken that path.

Some players attend scouting camps, but Steele took it upon herself to get to America.

“I actually just reached out personally to some coaches at certain universities I was interested in, saying, ‘I’m interested in going to America’,” she explains.

“Then there is kind of a scouting process, where I had coaches fly over to watch me play – that’s when I was at Arsenal. Some coaches just wanted to have footage sent over. It did involve being scouted in a sense, but it actually involved me reaching out to them initially.”

Steele describes what she experienced in America as ‘incredible’, even from the first visit.

“I went over to visit Yale before I’d decided I was going there or even been accepted. I was just taken aback by the facilities and sports complex” she says. “It was literally like playing for an incredible club team. It’s something I didn’t think I would experience at all, so it’s kind of like what you see in the movies and on the internet...some incredible facilities.”

At that point, having been interested in pursuing a medical career for a long time, Steele opted to prioritise her studies and was accepted into the University of Cambridge as a graduate entry medicine student upon returning home - her football background directly influencing future plans.

“From a young age, I always wanted to be a sports doctor,” she reveals. “That actually stemmed from playing for England Under-15s. I always looked at their job and thought that’s something I would definitely want to do in the future.”

There isn’t much exposure to sports medicine at medical school and it isn’t covered in the standard rotations, with Steele and her fellow students given tastes to a wide variety of medical fields. She is keeping all her options open...”But [sports medicine] is still high up the options I want to pursue."

Yet in playing for both the university team and WNL Division One side Cambridge City, she still remains heavily active at a high level of football regardless.

University football can fluctuate year to year because of graduating players and new arrivals, but Steele is complimentary about a standard which isn’t massively different to Cambridge City.

“Maybe you get more of a range of players in university, but we’ve got some incredible players who have played at a high level too,” she says. “When it’s incredibly busy with exams – you can see players fatiguing because everyone has such intense degrees. But there’s not a massive difference between the levels so it’s really nice to train and play with two great teams.

“I think I do have a lot of experience and I am older – Cambridge City have a really young team and with the university we have some undergraduates...as a postgraduate, I’m one of the older ones. I think they do look up to me for experience, whether that’s on the pitch, or off the pitch for advice about life, school or work. I’d like to think I’m always approachable to answer questions and help.”

Women’s football across England has seen a huge spike in interest since the success of Euro 2022 last summer, a new watershed moment for the game. Most of the attention has been focused on the WSL, but Steele has seen the impact first hand at both WNL and university level.

“It’s attracting more people to come and watch, to get involved and join in,” she says.

“I’m captain of the university team – we hold trials and this year we had probably double the amount we normally have. The success of England at the Euros has just motivated people to get involved at any level and I think that’s a great thing.”

Fran Steele is part of the FA Women’s National League’s Behind the Ball campaign, revealing more about the players’ lives off the pitch. Go to youtube.com/@FAWNL for more information.