Bay FC defender Jen Beattie on retirement, sharing her cancer diagnosis and athlete father’s influence
“Sorry if you can hear the washing machine in the background,” is not a classic opening line for an athlete’s retirement announcement, but it’s the one Jen Beattie has chosen.
In both laundry and life, the former Arsenal (twice), Manchester City, Bay FC and Scotland centre-back is moving on to her next cycle at age 33. She is calling time on an 18-year senior career, which has taken her to Australia, the 2019 World Cup in France and most recently to the United States, with immediate effect.
It’s a decision that’s been brewing since Beattie retired from international football in January 2023 but became a more concrete thought as the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season concluded in November.
She had a year remaining on the Bay FC contract she signed upon joining the San Francisco-area club from Arsenal last February. Retiring with time left on her deal made her “more at peace” with such a big step, knowing it was in her control and on her terms. Still, she’s grateful for the year she had with Bay FC.
“I’m honestly so glad I did it,” she says. “It was such an incredible experience. The NWSL was always that one league I wanted to go to and see what it was like and really experience it. To have had the opportunity to live in California for a year was just amazing.
“The league was incredible. It was such a challenge and it’s what I went for and I did find it hard. Going out there, living out there, and getting to experience different states was amazing. It was a really fun way to end my career.”
Reflecting, Beattie cites the trophies she has won — six league titles across spells with Arsenal, Manchester City and Melbourne City, and both the League Cup and FA Cup in England on four occasions — as the proudest moments.
Despite a career spent at centre-back, there were important goals in big games, too: an equaliser in the dramatic Champions League semi-final defeat to Wolfsburg in 2023 as Arsenal sold out the Emirates for the first time, for Scotland in the chaotic 3-3 draw with Argentina in that 2019 World Cup at Paris’ Parc des Princes — the same stadium where her father, John, who played rugby union for Scotland, scored his first try at international level 32 years earlier.
Her dad’s influence was present in her decision to retire, too. There was the push of “not being at my best anymore”, plus the pull of a burgeoning media career.
“It’s what I’ve absolutely loved doing, working with broadcasters covering the women’s game,” Beattie says. “I grew up watching my dad do it for rugby and I always thought that was really cool. I was unsure if I would be the cliched daughter that would try to follow in his footsteps, but it turns out that’s exactly what I wanted to do.”
Beattie played eight times in the NWSL during her single season stateside as Bay reached the championship play-offs. She also garnered attention for her impact away from the field. In November, she won the Lauren Holiday Impact Award, an accolade that champions community involvement, thanks to her work with Pink Ribbon Good, a breast and gynaecological cancer charity.
The 143-cap Scotland international was diagnosed with breast cancer during the Covid-19 pandemic, aged 29. She underwent surgery to remove a lump before undergoing radiotherapy. Beattie has continued to raise awareness of self-checks, regular doctors’ appointments and the importance of early detection.
“It was the worst and the hardest thing, but so many positive things came off the back of it, like working with charities and connecting with communities who are going through really difficult things as well,” Beattie says.
“I never regret speaking out about that and being as honest as I could, and still to this day I find it important to share stuff that’s not all roses and petals.
“That was one moment in my life, but I will continue to talk about that forever because it brought me closer to friends, to family, it made me realise the bigger picture of football and as much as we work so hard for something, it’s not everything. What really matters are health and happiness and friends and family.”
Using her profession and platform for good has been a continuous theme of Beattie’s career.
She took on a mentoring role within the Arsenal academy as part of the new contract she signed with the club in 2022 and is a popular figure in the game — again, something she attributes to her father and his sporting background.
“My family is huge on (the idea that) the people you play with and the people you meet are everything, and it’s very much friendships for life. It doesn’t really matter how good you are as a player, it matters how you are as a team-mate and it matters how you are as a friend.
“I’d so much rather people remember me for who I am as a team-mate and who I am as a person rather than who I was as a footballer. I hope they still think I was decent (as a player)… but I’ve always been very conscious of that.”
Beattie is of the generation who will leave the women’s game in a completely different and much better place from when they took their first steps in the sport.
Behind-the-scenes battles have been commonplace. She played with boys at Scottish side Hamilton Academical before being thrown straight into senior women’s football at age 15 and speaks of the pride at witnessing first-hand the academy opportunities now afforded to girls.
“That was one of those moments where I was like, ‘This is so worth what we’re doing’. Not just the playing and training, but the challenging and the conversations behind the scenes,” Beattie says. “I’m sure every single player in my position, or older than me, has had really difficult conversations with board members and associations, and it’s all been for the greater good.
“I always found it a pressure and a privilege to work your absolute a**e off because it’s always for who’s next. It’s not about what we do, it’s about if what we do matters for who’s coming up next.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Arsenal, Manchester City, Scotland, Bay FC, NWSL, UK Women's Football
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