‘I feel pretty good about it’ - Inspirational Bay FC defender Jen Beattie retires from trophy-laden career after remarkable achievements with Arsenal, Man City & Scotland

“To be honest, I think it's probably been on my mind for a couple of years now,” Beattie explains, as she speaks to reporters after making the decision. “It's probably been on my mind even before I retired from Scotland [in January 2023]. I think it's always in any athlete's mind. But I think, honestly, since I've been doing the broadcasting a little bit more, I've just had so much enjoyment from it.

“I was in an area in California that was incredible, but there were no broadcasting studios. I wasn't able to do anything outside of it. That kind of made me realise that I was finding more enjoyment with other things and that's okay, and I think that's where the transition comes from, what you really find the enjoyment out of or the fulfilment.”

Coming to such a conclusion has provided Beattie with that moment to reflect, to look back on the remarkable successes she has enjoyed over the past two decades. Having collected 13 domestic trophies in England, in spells with Arsenal and Manchester City, done the double in Australia with Melbourne City and helped Scotland qualify for their first European Championship and World Cup on the women’s side, it’s no wonder she struggles to pick out specific highlights. But it’s clear that those triumphs are part of what she really enjoyed.

“I was always really competitive and I wanted to win things,” she says. “Getting the Arsenal move at age 18, I think that really set me on such a good stead to be around the best players in the world. Lifting trophies is why I play football. It's what I've always wanted to do, and playing at the best clubs. I guess lifting trophies, playing at the World Cup, playing with the best players in the world, I really feel like that's what I'm more proud of.”

There were other hugely memorable moments though, the kind which don’t come in the form of a big shiny trophy. Scoring in a Champions League semi-final at a sold-out Emirates Stadium is a moment Beattie describes as “everything I’ve ever dreamed of about playing football”; winning the FA Cup at Wembley for Man City in 2019, in her final game for the club, is another stand-out that produced one of her favourite pictures; while the moment she cherishes most from her Scotland career was scoring at their first Women’s World Cup, on the same pitch that her father, former rugby union star John Beattie, scored a try for his country.

Part of the reason those sold-out crowds and opportunities at iconic stadiums are so sentimental to Beattie is surely because they didn’t seem feasible for women’s footballers to dream about when she first started her senior career, playing for Queen’s Park in Scotland as a 15-year-old. Even when she was representing an all-conquering Arsenal side just three years later, these feats were some way down the road.

“One of the most amazing things about being in this generation of female footballers is the way the game's grown,” she reflects. “I know that will always be a cliché of what we say now, because it is the fastest growing sport, but definitely in Scotland, reaching the Euros and qualifying for a World Cup, back-to-back, was such a highlight of my entire career. I always found it a real pressure and a privilege, but all in one such an amazing thing to really try and work your absolute a** off, because it's always for who's next.

“What we do matters for who's coming up next. That's always been a sort of strive while playing for Scotland, trying to challenge people above and get more funding and get more resources and making the game better than it has been, but I think definitely qualifying for the Euros and the World Cup helped that.

“One of my favourite things ever was while I was at Man City. For us, academies didn't exist and we played with boys until we were 14 or 15. I'll never forget seeing the young girls academy being brought through and starting, and that was one of those moments where I was just like, 'This is so worth what we're doing'. And I mean not just the playing and training, but the challenging and the conversations behind the scenes. I'm sure every single player in my position older than me has had really difficult conversations with board members and associations, and it's all been for the greater good and what's next. It's a credit to everyone out there who's done it, not just me.”

Beattie has made an impact beyond the pitch during her career, though. In October 2020, the defender was diagnosed with breast cancer, something she has spoken about incredibly openly since. Beattie continued to play for club and country despite treatment, even scoring a goal for Arsenal just three days after her diagnosis. At the time, those on the outside did not know that the heart-warming and joyous celebrations prompted by her header were fuelled by such emotion. Now, they are incredible scenes to watch back.

The work Beattie has subsequently done with charities to raise awareness and help others has quite literally been award-winning. In 2021, she received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award "for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity" and, back in November, she collected the Lauren Holiday Impact Award as well as a $30,000 prize to be designated to her community partner, Pink Ribbon Good, a Bay Area non-profit which provides support for those going through breast and gynaecological cancer treatment.

“Going through something physical like that, and health-related, it definitely sort of changed a lot of parts about my career,” Beattie says now. “But I obviously think at the same time, it made me enjoy it even more because I'd gone through something so difficult. For sure, it brought me closer to team-mates, it made me appreciate my job even more, and it got me just working for something more than football, and I massively valued that.

“It was the worst and the hardest thing, but so many positives came off the back of it, working with charities and connecting with communities that are going through really difficult things. I'll never regret speaking out about it and being as honest as I could and still to this day, I really find it important to share stuff that's not all roses and petals, the things that are really difficult, because nine out of 10 times, people are going through really difficult things.

"That was one moment in my life, but I will continue to talk about that forever because it was really important and it brought me closer to friends and family. It made me realise the bigger picture of football and that, as much as we work so hard for something, it's not everything, and what really matters is health and happiness and friends and family.”

That honesty, openness and relatability has made Beattie a beloved figure for fans at every club she has played for - but also within the game in general. Speak to anyone who has crossed paths with the Scotland star and they will sing her praises as a person, not just a footballer.

“I think I maybe credit my dad when it comes to that stuff,” she says. “Because he's a retired rugby player, and so is my brother, and my family is huge on the people you play with and the people you meet are everything. It's very much friendships for life and I've always really valued that. It doesn't really matter how good you are as a footballer, it matters how you are as a team-mate and it matters how you are as a friend. I would so much rather people remember me for who I was as a team-mate and who I am as a person, than who I was as a footballer. I've always been very conscious of that.

“It's something that I'm proud of and it's something that I guess I have been conscious of throughout my career. I'm so grateful for the people I've met, so I've always wanted to return that, whether they've been older than me or younger than me, and always wanted to sort of be a good human being, and being a good team-mate has meant a lot to me. I want to try and continue that into the professional world.”