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Ellie Hemsley
She’s earned the accolade of top goal scorer at Women’s Championship club Newcastle United this season and, when we speak, she’s less than 24 hours away from joining the Jamaican national team to take on the mighty US. This minute, however, footballer Shania Hayles’ excitement is reserved for a passionate roll call of her favourite fashion brands. “I like JW Anderson, the clothes are very creative, different and interesting,” says the 25-year-old over Zoom from St. Louis in Missouri, where she’s training with the Jamaican Reggae Girlz.
“Some of the stuff is very out there,” she continues of the Dior creative director’s eponymous label. “But I like being different, not wearing what other people are wearing, because it’s nice to stand out, to express yourself – it makes me feel confident.”
Burberry, Martine Rose, Wales Bonner, “the last few Diesel collections” and Ami Paris all make the register, too. “I love the Ami Paris heart and how they do the smart-casual thing.” Meanwhile, Hayles’ knowledge of streetwear brands would give some fashion influencers a run for their money, her go-to labels being Patta, La Fam, Corteiz and Manchester’s Clints Inc. Outfits showcasing her signature look of “jorts, mesh top and a nice pair of sunnies” are regularly modelled on her Instagram grid, sitting alongside images of goal celebrations in her Magpies striped jersey.
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Ellie Hemsley
The football forward, who was born and raised in Burton-Upon-Trent in Staffordshire, admits to having a “box after box” trainer and shoe collection that includes “Nikes, Sacouny, Timberland and some chunky Steve Maddens”. And then there’s her recent appetite for tailoring and event dressing, choosing a full Mithridate look for the Women’s Football Awards last month, now her “favourite outfit to date” with a “really nice Ahluwalia two-piece look” coming in at a close second.
To that end, it’s no surprise that Hayles has become an instant hit on @WFootballerFits, the newly-launched women’s version of the @FootballerFits Instagram account – an encyclopaedia of best dressed footballers from around the globe. What is surprising however, is that Hayles “wasn’t really into fashion growing up”. Harder to comprehend still, is that she didn’t care much for football either.
“I hated it,” laughs Hayles, recalling her introduction to the sport at age five. “My mom was a single parent, trying to find activities for me to do in the half-term holidays because she had to go to work. The first time she dropped me at football camp, it was raining, and I thought, ‘Why is she leaving me here for a full day?’”
Hayles concedes that it may have been the bad weather she disliked more than the sport, and agreed to give football camp another go the following summer. This time, with the sun shining, something clicked. “After that, I used to go there every half-term, I’d have a packed lunch and stay all day until mum picked me up.” She joined in the boys’ football games at her primary school and remembers being “the only girl playing, but that didn’t really stop me because everyone was really nice.”
Hayles joined a local boys’ team and when she turned eight, she moved to a junior girls’ team at Burton’s Stretton Swifts FC. “That was my first girls’ team and I just enjoyed it so much because it was just a group of girls that loved playing football as much as me. I hadn’t really had that before.”
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Ellie Hemsley
Hayles wasn’t “born into a family that loves football”, so playing professionally wasn’t even on her radar. That came later, when she was offered a place at Aston Villa’s youth academy at the age of 15. With it came arduous 60-mile round trips to Birmingham, multiple times a week. Hayles says she’s forever grateful to her mum for the time, effort and money that went into making that happen.
The sacrifices paid off when Hayles was called up to play for the England youth teams and then when she signed her first professional contract with Birmingham City in 2017, at the tender age of 18. Two seasons later, she returned to Villa Park, her goal-scoring talent helping the team get promoted into the Women’s Super League, something she also achieved with her next team Bristol City, where she finished her first season as their top scorer. And, last year, the striker joined Newcastle United W.F.C., taking the top goalscorer accolade again, netting an impressive 15 goals in 24 appearances.
Hayles achieved another major milestone in June 2021: making her debut for the Jamaican national team – qualifying through grandparents on her father’s side. “I’m proud of who I am, what I look like and where I’m from,” says Hayles of her Jamaican heritage. “So, it’s nice to be able to play for Jamaica – obviously for me, but for my family as well.” And representation is important to Hayles, who credits Arsenal and England legend Rachel Yankey as her inspiration.
“When I saw her playing, I was like, ‘She looks like me.’ Maybe not visually but the same skin colour, and I thought, ‘I can do what she's doing.’ It was a powerful thing for me to see her play.”
Hayles says she wants to inspire the next generation of players like Yankey did for her, and works hard to give back through her work with the NSPCC and the many football foundations she’s been part of at her clubs. “I do school visits or go and play football with the kids, much of it is in more deprived areas,” she shares. “I didn’t have it all myself [growing up], so I understand where they’re coming from, and I can explain what it takes to get to where I am now.”
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Ellie Hemsley
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Ellie Hemsley
It’s this work that Hayles is most proud of, alongside footie victories such as scoring the winning goal against local rivals Sunderland in front of a record crowd this March. So, what’s next?
“Being at a World Cup, having my mum there or even watching on the TV, would be the greatest honour ever,” she says, eyeing up the 2027 championships in Brazil. And maybe of slightly less importance, she’s got her heart set on getting to her first fashion week.
“I’m hoping to do Paris, but it could be hard with my scheduling,” she explains. “If not, definitely, London would be good, there’s a lot of young, creative designers – so fingers crossed.” We’ll be keeping our eyes on the front row for Miss Hayles.
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