Lioness Jess Carter proud to help make women's sport more visible

The England defender picked the round ball over the oval ball age 16 and has gone on to represent the Lionesses at two major tournaments.

In another life, Jess Carter could have spent this summer representing England on the rugby field instead of the football pitch.

Jess Carter (centre), Leah Williamson (left) and Anna Moorhouse (right) | imagecomms

placeholder image — Jess Carter (centre), Leah Williamson (left) and Anna Moorhouse (right) | imagecomms

Carter could have lined up for the Red Roses as they go for glory themselves on home soil this summer but the England defender picked the round ball over the oval ball age 16 and has gone on to represent the Lionesses at two major tournaments.

“I loved rugby, I still to this day say I was better at it than football,” said the 27-year-old, as part of a new LG OLED TV collaboration ahead of this summer.

“But it just got to a point where I had to choose between one or the other, and at that time, I chose football, but I used to love playing rugby.”

Former England goalkeeper and media pundit, Rachel Brown-Finnis, sat down with two of England’s most loved sporting teams, the Lionesses and Red Roses to discuss the upcoming summer of sport | imagecomms

“It really helped from the team side of helping you to work together as a unit, all being on the same page, for sure.

“Being a defender, it is important that I win all of my individual battles, and that is the same on a rugby pitch. There is definitely a correlation between the two.”

Carter was speaking ahead of a huge summer of sport, and LG is helping the nation get closer to the action with LG OLED TVs.

Both the Lionesses and the Red Roses will be on free-to-air TV across the summer as they chase silverware.

And for Carter, visibility is key to make sure that the next generation knows what is possible for them.

The Red Roses and the Lionesses joined forces to to reflect on some of the nation’s most memorable sporting TV moments and the importance of visibility | imagecomms

She added: “It is incredible, I would love to have been able to know that I could have been a female rugby player as a profession if I wanted to.

“But I felt like there wasn’t really an option, it was just that I was playing women’s rugby as a hobby. I didn’t even know you could do rugby as a profession.

“Obviously now that is an option, and I think it is really amazing that the Red Roses are paving the way, similar to how we are, and they are now setting the standard.

“They are proving, like we are, that you can play anything you want to and compete at any level you want to.”

Members of the two England women's teams caught up with LG at St George's Park recently as part of the leading TV manufacturer’s ongoing partnership with The FA and the RFU. The LG All In Pledge encourages people to engage and watch women's sport. Together we can grow support through fandom and audience numbers to inspire new players to pick up the sport themselves, as watching changes everything. For more information, go to www.lgwomens-sportpledge.com.