Josephine Henning

• Josephine Henning enjoyed great success as a player, with four UEFA Women’s Champions Leagues, four Frauen-Bundesliga titles and an Olympic gold medal to her name.

• The 31-year-old German enjoyed the highs and lows of professional football before retiring due to injury.

• She has now taken her talents from the pitch to the art studio as a full-time artist ready to embark on new adventures.

• The former VfL Wolfsburg, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal player speaks exclusively to FIFA about her journey so far.

Every child has a dream, particularly for their future career. What was yours?

I was never a child who only had one dream and wanted to be the best footballer or the best artist in the world. I had many interests in sport, particularly football, but I liked painting and drawing, even music too. I was just a child who enjoyed doing different things.

How did you get into football, and when did you first express an interest in the beautiful game?

I got into football with my dad. He would take me and my brother to a pitch just around the corner from where we lived.

He would say to us, “On this pitch, anyone can play”, whether they were boys or girls. I think I was the only girl who played there though! He would always make sure that the teams were fair, which helped!

My dad and I realised that I was good enough, and when we moved to another city, there was a local girls’ team which I was able to join.

What were the main factors that helped you make the step up from youth to professional football?

As a player, I was always very athletic, that was my big strength. However, I was always curious and willing to learn. That was a significant factor – I felt as though I wanted to achieve things so I had to ensure that I was willing to learn and train hard. I would often ask coaches questions so that then I could achieve whatever I wanted to.

That clicked when I was about 18. Only a year or so later, just I was about to move from 1. FC Saarbrücken, the club where I started my career, who were often yo-yoing between the first and second division, I received an offer from 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam, who were the German champions at the time. It was a big step, but I felt that it wasn’t too big. That was the point where it all started for me.

Who were your biggest influences, the people who helped you, whether on or off the pitch, to play at the top level of the game?

Most of the time, you don’t see who is talking about you in a positive way and who is helping you. These are the most important things because it comes from the coaches and the talks between them. They will say “Hey, have you seen this girl? Maybe we should keep our eyes on her, maybe we should get her working with a specialist coach.” These are the things that you don’t see, the things that go on behind the scenes which are so important in terms of having a great support network.

That helped me a lot, whether it was for the club or the national team and the connection between the two. It all helped me move from youth to professional level, but I didn’t really know it at the time.

I never had a role model in the sense of I wanted to be like a certain player. It was the small things that inspired me. This was also true if a player questioned something or came up with different ways to approach a problem.

It would often be the captain who would stand in front of the group and say that they wanted to protect the group. A lot of my team-mates inspired me, especially when they showed bravery and courage. You can really be amazing in this structured world and be someone who stands out through the way you act and in what you do.

What does it feel like to win a trophy? How does each trophy differ from the next?

Winning a trophy feels different every time. Every season is different, every tournament is different, and the road to winning a particular trophy is different. One thing they all have in common is that, for one moment or for one day, it shows you that you can do anything because you have shown that you can give your all to reach your goal and to fulfil your dream.

For me, it was only one or two days because I then had my next target in mind. Winning a trophy is always special though, and you really feel like you can achieve whatever you want to. That’s the crazy power of sport and the hope it gives you.

You suffered several injuries and setbacks during your career. How did you overcome them?

When I moved to Potsdam, I suffered a bad knee injury. Cartilage problems get worse the older you get, so it’s not good to start your career at a club like that, but I wanted to play so much.

Looking back 15 years later, it’s crazy to see how much I wanted to play. I managed to do it with the help of great physios and experts throughout my career. Most importantly, it was because my mindset was right.

I knew I had to take care of my knee. Physios and conditioning have developed a lot over the years, but at that time I really had to figure it out myself in terms of what was good for me. When you’re young, you want to play so much that you go over the limit and that’s not good, but I was a player who had to learn from her mistakes to get better.

I had to run into obstacles so that I could figure out what wasn’t working. Mindset is the most important thing for players who go through chronic problems and injuries. You have to work on your mindset every day.

How difficult was it to decide to retire from football? Could you have continued despite the injuries, or did you simply feel that the time was right?

I don’t think that there is ever a right time and anything can change in a split-second. I was in London, playing for Arsenal, and I knew that after the Olympics, I had played for longer than I ever thought would be possible. I was very privileged in that I played with great players for great clubs so that we could reach our goals and win trophies. After the Olympics, I felt like something was changing. It didn’t feel like I could go through another season with an injury and still believe that I would be able to get through it. That was what it had been like ten years earlier as I always told myself, “OK, one more season”.

I had always wanted to do art, I was always drawing, painting and studying. I knew that I wanted to become a full-time artist at some point, so I decided to commit to art 100%. I wasn’t deciding against football, I wasn’t saying no to football – I was just curious and I felt I needed some time away from football and to switch off.

That took at least two years of reflection. It’s so important that you give yourself time. It’s a different life as an artist. To be a free artist, coming out of a structured system in football, it took some time and I’m still adapting to life as an artist.

Where did your passion for art come from and how did you get into it? Were you always painting and drawing, even during your time in football?

Yes. It was easy in hotels when I was travelling with football as all I needed was a pen and a piece of paper rather than a canvas and some paint. I grew up in an artistic family – my mum is a theatre painter so she paints stages, my dad was an actor, and my brother is a musician so there was a lot of creativity in the family!

It’s not that it was clear that I had to be an artist, I was always open to new ideas. I have always had the freedom to do what I wanted. Whatever you want to do in life, you can do it! I’m very thankful for that, that’s a value I have – there are no restrictions.

I think my family influenced me a little bit with their careers, but they gave me options and showed me what’s possible. But I decided whether I wanted to pursue it or not.

When did you realise that you could make a career as an artist?

There was never a point where I thought “I can make a career out of this”. It just came naturally. I always had a passion for it. I love to plan and create things from a blank canvas and put my work up on the wall or wherever I want. Every time I touch a pen or a pencil, it just makes me calm. I don’t know how people cannot use art or some form of art like music to reflect and get through this crazy world. I use it to bring out my emotions. If I couldn’t do that, I would explode!

The best thing for me as an artist is the ability to work with different charities, projects and people through my own art. That is the most freedom I have as an artist.

It looks as though, even though you took a big decision to become an artist, football is still an important part of your life. How important is football in your artistic work?

Football and sport is such a big part of me. I love it. The joy and the passion around sport is precious and raw. The emotions when you connect with people and show what you are feeling, that to me is what sport is all about. You feel something and it comes out, whether you’re a supporter or a player. Sport allows you to be human and to be whoever you want to be. I never get tired of creating art in sport. That’s exactly who I am. It’s natural for me to follow these passions.

What are your future ambitions?

I just want to develop as a person. I want to reflect, even though sometimes I don’t have the time for it. I also want to look forward and develop my skills as well as my view of the world, seeing where I can be useful for other people. The biggest thing is when we feel connected to other people and we say, “‘I would love to do this, so how can my painting help change someone’s view of things?’” We can create something together.

The mural I’m painting right now is in Cologne. Looking at a 40-metre wall on which you have a painting inspires you and gives you energy every day. I would be happy if a player said to me, “It’s a really cool place to be and it helps me get ready to go back onto the pitch.”

If it’s a painting for a charity, I have so many challenges in my mind and thoughts about what I want to do with my art, so I am curious to see where it leads me and to find out where I can be useful and helpful for others.

What advice would you give to a young girl who wants to be a professional footballer? How important is it to have a plan B in your career in case you face a sudden setback?

I did a bachelor’s degree in health management, and after that I decided to study graphic design when I was in Paris and then interior design when I was in London, so yes, having a plan B is important. You have to manage your time so that it doesn’t affect your health when you’re playing football. It’s self-management because you need to be at your best in football and you cannot be distracted. You can do something alongside football, like I did. I would have gone crazy if football was all I had, and it helped me be a better player.

You really have to find out what kind of person you are and what distracts you and how much can do at the same time. You have to listen to yourself but also ask other people for help. In women’s football, we want to be professional and grow every year so that we can live on the money we earn. You can have a career after football, but it all depends on the individual. You have to manage and be fair to yourself but having a plan B is very important.

What are your thoughts on where women’s football is today and its development since you started out?

Women’s football has developed a lot since I started playing, with TV deals and the important campaigns conducted by FIFA and UEFA. Of course, there is still a lot more to do. We get asked a lot of the same questions in terms of “Are we doing enough?” “Are we getting more professional?” There are so many men and women fighting for the right things that, yes, it is getting more professional.

It’s good to face the problems, but we need to find out where each problem is and what we can do to help solve it. For example, I went to Ghana with Tabea Kemme and we were part of an initiative called “Play Soccer Ghana”, which was supported by the “Common Goal” campaign set up by Juan Mata. That’s where we realised the importance of asking the right questions and going deeper into the problems to find solutions.

I’m a big fan of identifying what the current objective is. What is the biggest problem and how can we get deeper into it? I think getting your head down and working on the solution and going directly to the decision-makers and players is important.

Are there any improvements or changes that you would like to see in women’s football? 

There is so much I would like to see. In Germany, I want us to have an active players’ union. We allow players to play for teams but we need to let them be themselves, give them a voice.

In women’s football in general, I would like the players to be listened to more often. Ask them “What is it like?’ when they are moving clubs. As players, you can have three weeks off, and for two of those weeks you might be moving to another club but your holiday is over because you have to travel and restart in a new environment. And then you may get injured in your first two weeks at your new club. These are small things that you maybe think aren’t that important, but they do matter.

It always starts with visibility. Give the players visibility. Give them a voice and don’t put them in a framework in which they have to function. They need freedom in this game.