Fran Kirby stepping away from football to deal with ongoing health issue

Chelsea superstar Fran Kirby, who has not played for club or country since February, has confirmed that she’s stepping away from football, for at least the time being, in order to figure out the unknown health issue that’s continuing to cause her fatigue.

This ongoing issue is yet another cruel blow for the 28-year-old, who spent most of 2019-20 dealing with pericarditis, an inflammation of the fibrous sac surrounding the heart.

Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes was also unsure if and when Kirby would return when asked about the situation in the pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup semifinal against Arsenal.

“I’m not withholding [information], because I don’t have anything to tell you, because we haven’t got to the bottom of it and until we get to the bottom of it and until we understand some of the underlying reasons for that fatigue, I’d just be speculating. So we’re going through a process of elimination to try and determine why she’s struggling.

“We need to give the time to find the right support so that we can come up with a diagnosis and then with diagnosis, you can come up with strategies. So right now, I don’t have any answers. What I know is that she’s not available for club or country and she won’t be for the foreseeable future.”

-Emma Hayes; source: Telegraph

Obviously this news is hard to take as Kirby has wowed and entertained us every time she has stepped on to the pitch over the past many years. She will be greatly missed, on and off the pitch, and we can only hope that this health issue can be resolved quickly and fully, with a return to football just a bonus after that.

Get well soon, Super Fran!