In My Sporting Hero, a new podcast series from Nutmeg, footballers talk about the athletes who inspire them. Sometimes those sportsmen and women are also footballers. Sometimes not. You can listen to the audio on this post, on the podcast app of your choice (just search for ‘My Sporting Hero’) or enjoy the written version below.
Our next guest is Jen Beattie.
Jen has been one of Scottish football’s greatest exports since she left Celtic to join Arsenal in 2009. She won trophies in two spells with the Gunners as well as with Manchester City and Melbourne City. She also played in France with Montpellier and currently wears No.5 for Bay FC in the NWSL and lives in California.
The defender played 143 times for Scotland before stepping back from the national team in 2023. Jen was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and was awarded the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality Awards in 2021 in recognition of triumph over adversity.
Jen’s sporting hero is Andy Murray, the multiple Grand Slam and Olympic tennis champion from Dunblane.
Andy Murray is my sporting hero because of what he has achieved in tennis. For him to be the most successful British tennis player in the Open era just demonstrates his work-rate and all the effort that he has put in; and even more so latterly, when he came back from a really tough injury to return to the top of his game.
Watching a Scottish person win Wimbledon was one of my all-time sporting highlights — and to see him showing the emotion, the anger, the frustration, and then the sheer joy and elation when he won was wonderful.
I’ve always enjoyed tennis and I have great childhood memories of playing at our local club with my best friends for the entire summer. I actually had a Lawn Tennis Association number and I played in tournaments, but there was a point when I had to choose between tennis and football; and obviously I went on to play football. However, I still love tennis and I love watching it. I’m a huge fan of Wimbledon and I’ve been lucky enough to go there a couple of times and watch some of the biggest players in the game.
I’ve never met Andy but I have met his mum Judy, who’s such a character and has been amazingly supportive of Andy and Jamie; she has also done a lot for tennis as well as women’s sport. I’m not going to compare myself to Andy Murray, but I can relate to how it feels to come from a sporting background [Jen’s father, John, and brother Johnnie, both played rugby for Scotland]. I can also relate to the way he and his family interact and use humour to defuse the pressure.
I was very competitive at a young age so tennis matches or football games would often end in tears. I was the one smashing a tennis racket or throwing away my golf club. I’ve grown out of those emotions but I’m still just as competitive. I think that’s why I ended up in team sports and not playing tennis because I needed to be around people — I needed the help of others — whereas individual athletes are on another level.
I find watching individual sports nerve-wracking and I can’t imagine what it’s feels like for the actual athlete. I can’t comprehend the emotions that you would feel when you’re on Centre Court and you’re Scottish and you’ve got the whole of Great Britain desperate for you to win Wimbledon. It’s beyond remarkable how Andy achieved that considering what it meant to not just to the people of Scotland but the entire UK.
All sportspeople can empathise with athletes who suffer a challenging injury, and for Andy to have a metal hip put in and still get back to an unbelievable level is another reason why I admire him so much. You can only imagine the pain he must have been in beforehand and the amount of rehab he had to endure; and for him to make that decision to get the surgery and then to come back from it is just testament to his strength and resilience. The Resurfacing documentary film gives you an insight into that, and also the way he took those challenges so calmly and in his stride. His sense of humour always shines through.
Andy is also an inspiration to me because of the way he has stood up for women’s rights and been an advocate for women’s sport. He has put journalists in their place at press conferences; for example, reminding them that a woman had achieved a certain feat first. Not enough men do this, and female athletes are so grateful for that because ultimately, speaking out is the only way that society will progress as quickly as possible towards equality.
I remember the intensity, pride and sheer joy of watching a Scot winning Wimbledon. I can’t even imagine the burden and pressure that he must have felt on that final day and I think it’s a credit to him how he performed the way he did. It just shows his character, resilience and professionalism to go on and win that match, knowing the scale of it and what it would have meant to so many people. I’m also proud of the fact that Andy achieved what he did in an era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
He’s more than just a tennis player. He’s also an incredible human being. He has given so much back to the community, and seeing him now link up with Djokovic demonstrates the kind of person he is. The fact that he can coach someone who had been his rival for so long shows that they must have had a friendship throughout all those years.
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