UK Edition
Painter and decorator Lisa Robertson plotting FA cup upset with Durham: 'We respect Chelsea but will not be intimidated'
It is difficult not to wince slightly as Durham midfielder Lisa Robertson, without even taking a deep breath, recites her daily schedule with all the nonchalance of someone reeling off items from a shopping list.
On Sunday, Robertson’s Durham – fourth in the Women’s Championship, the second tier of women’s football – host Chelsea, third in the Women’s Super League, in the quarter-finals of the Women’s FA Cup and the 12-place gulf between the pair could barely, in Robertson’s opinion, be more cavernous.
Durham are not the lowest-ranked team remaining – that honour falls to Aston Villa, who will be visited by West Ham – but this is two-time winners Chelsea’s last chance of domestic silverware. Manchester United, a full-time outfit, are the other Championship side still in the competition, but as one of the only teams not affiliated with a men’s club, a Durham win would provide the shock of the round.
Not that Robertson, 26, has had much time to consider the possibility. She has, instead, spent the bulk of her week climbing stepladders, providing estimates and surveying colour charts. The owner of a thriving painting and decorating business, Scotland-born Robertson is still based in Edinburgh because “football’s never going to be something that I can make a living through”. Moving to Durham would, simply, be too risky.
“I get up about quarter to seven, leave about 20 past and go to work,” she explains. “I leave work at ten to four, drive to the train station, get the train just before five. It gets me into Durham just before seven. I train seven until 9.30, but I leave training about 20 past nine to get the last train home. I get back into Edinburgh about half 11 and then I get home just before midnight. Then do it again. That’s pretty much my routine. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday.
“I work full time, so at least 40 hours a week. Come the end of the week, it is tiring. Mentally, it’s difficult. But I’m fine with it now. Maybe it does hinder recovery, I don’t know, but I didn’t feel it. You just remember why you’re doing it and the reasons for it.
“Some people think it’s a bit crazy but other people understand why I do it. I want to maintain my own business as well as play football.”
Although women’s football now boasts a fully-professional top tier, Robertson represents the experiences of most female players. She admits the traditional scouting pathway “wasn’t really a thing when I was younger”, in the days when she would play for the school team, the local boys’ team and, from the age of 14, Hibernian Ladies, making her first-team debut at 16.
Robertson’s generation is one of women who were, largely, ahead of their time, but there is no lingering resentment or haunting sense of what could have been. At 15 she was already painting for a local business and a year later they gave her an apprenticeship.
“When you’re younger, you used to watch and hear things about how people in America got paid for playing football and stuff, but you didn’t really understand the full extent of it,” she recalls.
“It’s not actually full time – but growing up, you don’t know that. It’s not until you hit 15, 16 and go into a first team that you realise. But it was never really a worry. When I started my apprenticeship, I was already prepared for it to be a hobby as opposed to a full-time job. As a kid, all I wanted was to play for Hibs. Even though it wasn’t full time, I’ve still done that. I wasn’t disappointed. It wasn’t a shock.”
Durham, at least, pay for her train fares. Where some clubs in the Championship do not even offer travel expenses, Durham boast a mix of full- and part-time players, some benefiting from scholarships at Durham University. As the only north-east club in the top two divisions, Durham’s closest neighbours are Sheffield United – 108 miles away – meaning the players spend an inordinate amount of time in hotels and on the road. “But it’s good,” Robertson said. “Because we’re not full-time, we don’t spend as much time together as other clubs. That makes up for it. It’s good for team building.”
That might explain why Durham have lost just one league game all season, became the first side to beat the newly formed Manchester United in December and last month delivered the result of the fifth round, defeating top-tier Bristol City 2-0 with both goals arriving courtesy of Robertson, one from the halfway line: “I knew it was going in as soon as I hit it. She was so high up the park.” Durham have, so far, matched full-time opponents, but Chelsea will present a sterner test.
“The gap will be massive,” warns Robertson. “They’ll recover properly, whereas we work most of the day and go to training. They’ve got all the facilities, all the resources, all the money. They’ll be fitter, maybe faster, more physical, will move the ball well. But I don’t think you can be intimidated by them. Give them the respect for who they are, but we’re here to play a game as well. We’re not just turning up and hoping for the best.”