Quotes from Karen Carney

When my mum was ill, I always thought the club paid for me to fly back and visit her, and then, only years down the line, I found out it was Emma, so she did some stuff for me that was personal that I'll truly never forget, so I have got an alliance to Emma Hayes.

When you hit 30, people have got this perception that you're past it, and I really disagree with that.

I looked at it, and it was like, 'Can I push and make the Olympic squad?' It is tough going from 18 players, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. I thought that might be a push too far for me. I had no Champions League with Chelsea. I lost my motivation.

I am who I am. I'm from Birmingham. My mum works at Sainsbury's. My dad is a fire-fighter. We keep it real. We know who we are. I haven't made a lot of money, but I'm equally comfortable. I have food, clothes on my back, and my family.

Just playing with the lads in school, really, and having a kick around, and I ended up at a Sunday club just for girls, and there was only about 15- 20 girls there, and I just moved on to a club from there.

A woman in my local area decided to put on an opportunity for girls to come and play football for £2 each Sunday. That's how I started.

I never had any expectations. When I was 11, I just wanted to play for England. I didn't know when it would happen, how it would happen. I picked that dream, and I wanted that dream.

It is a bit surreal for me because I have been a lifelong Birmingham fan, so to be inducted into the Hall of Fame is a massive honour.

Every little girl's dream, every little boy's dream is to play at Wembley, so for a girl to do it and collect the 100th cap there was just a massive achievement. So, I think that's when it really hit me.

I would love to do skiing and go with my mates and have a chalet, have a drink, have a good time, and just switch off. Or maybe a marathon or something crazy like that.

We just want the sport to be taken seriously and given the best possible chance for current and future players to be the best they can.

I see things differently, feel things differently. That's how I've always been, and that's why I'm different to everyone else. Information: simple. Detail: simple. I just aim to play as if it was five-a-side as an 11-year-old kid. That's how I see it because that's how it is.

Men's is at a fast pace and focused on strength, whereas the women's is full of finesse and more skilful - and I think that's what the public have to associate with; male and female football is very different.

I think obviously the media need to help promote the game and make it bigger so the younger girls have women role models to look up to and try and aspire to instead of just male footballers.

I don't say what I feel. I say what was said to me because my senior professionals were amazing to me. If I can do anything similar to the young pups, I will do that. My senior pros protected me and looked after me and made me feel amazing.

You've got to dig deep to get from a semi-final to a final.

I look at our sport as the same as tennis. Male and female tennis is very, very different. The men's is more quick and powerful, and the women's is more about finesse and has more rallies - and that's the same with men's and women's football.

Of course I support England - and I follow Birmingham. I am an avid football fan, and obviously, I have a connection with Arsenal, so I like to watch them, too. I think anyone who is English follows the men's team and wants them to do well, and I'm an avid follower of any football, really.

To have played for England was my ultimate ambition, and to do so at four World Cups and represent Team GB at a home Olympics was beyond the wildest dreams I had when first starting out.

I'd rather have one gold medal and 10 caps than 200 caps and no gold.

Any person who has reached an elite level has had to start somewhere, and it's all from grass-roots level.

I wanted to finish at the top of the game and on my own terms. I thought it was the perfect time at the World Cup and to go out at Chelsea. Chelsea and England were immense in how they have supported me in that transition.

I won the quadruple at 18 with Arsenal, so I didn't really know what I was chasing after the World Cup, and I was a bit lost, so I didn't know whether to just be content at home and just play my football or go for another challenge.

After the World Cup, it was so intense, and a lot of pressure was put on me - unfairly, I thought, at times - and it is always a worry, but you get older, you get a better support team, and I haven't hidden the fact about my past, and I never will because I'm not ashamed of it.