Russo opens up about backheel moment, family and life beyond football

Alessia Russo has become a defining voice in women’s football, and in a new edition of The Football Interview she speaks openly about the lines between love for the game and the pressures that come with it. The episode, described by BBC as a bold, in-depth conversation with the England forward, airs on BBC One late on Saturday night as part of a series that invites athletes to reveal the mindset behind their careers. Russo covers everything from childhood memories to a life-changing move to the United States, the backheel that fans still talk about, and what the future may hold beyond the pitch.

Russo has risen to global prominence with performances for club and country in recent years. The forward has won the European Championship twice with England, and was part of Arsenal's Champions League-winning squad earlier this year. In her reflections on the Euro 2022 campaign and its follow-up, she notes that her goal against Spain in the final forced extra time, before Sarina Wiegman’s side secured a dramatic penalty shootout victory over the world champions. The 26-year-old Ballon d’Or nominee sits with host Kelly Somers to discuss the moments that shaped her career and the people who have helped her along the way.

From an early age, Russo says football was “everything” to her. She describes a childhood defined by a love of the game, a family that supported her, and a relentless drive to test herself against bigger, stronger players. “Football has always been everything to me. It was always football that I wanted to do,” she says, highlighting how she learned to balance a sense of joy with the increasingly serious demands of top-level sport. The interview reveals a contrast that has stayed with her: she wants to keep the childlike enjoyment that first drew her to the pitch even as the stakes get higher.

Her perspective on maintaining that love is rooted in a simple equation she repeats throughout the talk: she plays her best football when she is free and in a good mental space. “I try to,” she says, acknowledging how the level of competition and scrutiny can press in. She reflects on the balance between focus and fearlessness, and how coaching staff and teammates have helped her preserve the sense of play that underpins her best performances. Russo recalls her first memory of playing as a child alongside her two older brothers, in the garden or at the park, where her father coached their team and where she learned to hold her own in an all-boys environment. The early challenges, she notes, helped forge the competitive edge that followed her into academy trials and professional football.

The conversation moves through formative experiences at school and in youth football, including a pivotal moment at Charlton. She recalls a standout trial session that prompted the Charlton coach to offer her a place in the academy, a moment she says she learned a lot from as she navigated conversations with her dad on the drive home. She also remembers being a mascot for Casey Stoney during her time at Charlton, a memory she frames as part of a broader arc that connected her to future teammates and coaches. Such memories, she notes, helped her understand how far the game has come: from young girls watching matches in stadiums to a sport that now thrives on television and social media, offering new role models to younger generations.

The interview strand that anchors Russo’s personal story is the sense of mentorship and family that has surrounded her. She describes her parents as unwavering supporters who helped cultivate a grounded approach to the sport. Her father, a former police officer, still texts before and after games with a concise, motivational routine: spelling out the game data, highlighting performance notes, and finishing with a personal touch. His favorite sign-off, she says, is “BTB” — be the best — a motto that has followed her through the highs and lows of professional football. Russo shares how close relationships with her siblings inform her as a person as well as an athlete: one brother has even served as her agent, and another, who recently entered reality television, keeps the family dynamics lively in public life.

The path back to Manchester United represents a homecoming of sorts. Russo grew up a United fan and never imagined they would come calling as a professional player after college. When she signed, pictures of her walking out with then-manager Casey Stoney were a tangible reminder of a full-circle moment in a career defined by loops and pivots: from a youth player in Chelsea and Charlton’s academies to a United star under a coach who had once helped her take her first professional steps. She credits Stoney with clarity on what she wanted from her players and with helping to ease her transition into a first professional environment.

Russo’s recollections also touch on a broader, more difficult transition: the moments that come when a player learns to navigate the pressures of global competition and media attention. She mentions the 2023 World Cup final against Spain as a painful and instructive memory. Even though England won the Euros, the World Cup final left a hole for the squad, she says, because the experience of falling just short in a peak competition can sharpen what comes next. The Euros that followed provided a different kind of breakthrough, and Russo notes how the early success helped fan the flames of a growing fan base that suddenly found itself with a national team to rally around.

The backheel that Russo describes as instinctive remains one of the defining moments of her career. She explains that her confidence in that moment grew from a period when England’s coach encouraged players to express themselves, offering freedom that allowed players to take calculated risks. The backheel’s immediacy underlines a broader theme in her narrative: the ability to trust her instincts when the stakes are high, and the importance of timing and space in the moment of contact.

As the interview shifts toward what motivates her beyond the game, Russo discusses long-term ambitions, both on and off the field. She envisions a future that includes possibilities beyond football, including new career avenues once she steps away from playing. The discussion ranges from personal aspirations like starting a vineyard in Italy to building a life that prioritizes family, balance, and the chance to enjoy sport from a different vantage point. She emphasizes that while trophies remain a central aim, the wish to explore life after football is real and thoughtful, described with characteristic humility and a sense of practicality.

In reflecting on the people who have shaped her, Russo highlights the enduring influence of close friends from England’s youth teams, such as Lotte Wubben-Moy and Ella Toone. The two are described not only as teammates but as siblings in the broader football family: Wubben-Moy is a steady, almost maternal presence in stressful moments, while Toone adds humor and energy that lightens the day-to-day grind of training and travel. Russo says she has learned to lean on them in different ways, adapting to the different roles they play on and off the pitch.

The interview also revisits Russo’s decision to spend three years in the United States during college, a choice she now regards as transformative. Living in North Carolina, far from home, she learned to grow up quickly and to rely on friends who have since become lifelong teammates. She says the experience taught her that football is a part of life, not the entire story, and that it helped her develop a more nuanced understanding of her body, her ambitions, and her identity beyond the sport. The time away also brought her into close collaboration with Lotte Wubben-Moy at Arsenal, underscoring how friendships formed in youth and college can shape professional trajectories in meaningful ways.

The Football Interview with Russo is part of a BBC series that explores the mindset and motivation of leading figures in sport and entertainment. In this installment, the format allows for a wide-ranging conversation that touches on family dynamics, career highs and disappointments, and the personal moments that define a career. The interview is scheduled to air across BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website, with a broadcast on BBC One from 23:55 BST on Saturday, 20 September.

In closing, Russo returns to the core theme that runs through her conversation: football is a life, not just a job, but the life she leads is one that she expects to change again as she pursues new challenges. She is clear about her desire to win more trophies, with the World Cup on the horizon, but she also speaks about the anticipation of what comes after competition. Whether she ends up growing a vineyard in Italy, building a second career beyond football, or simply enjoying a quieter life by the sea, Russo frames her future as a continuation of the same work she has pursued since childhood: to learn, to grow, and to be the best version of herself, while staying true to the joy that first drew her to the game.

The interview positions Russo not only as one of England’s most influential current players but as a voice that helps chart the evolving landscape of women’s football, including the growth of the sport’s audience, the expanding opportunities for young players to see themselves on big stages, and the ways in which personal stories can illuminate a broader, more inclusive narrative for fans around the world. The full conversation offers a portrait of a player who remains focused on the next challenge while acknowledging the people and moments that have helped her reach this point in her career.