Crystal Palace Women goalkeeper Chloe Morgan has won Sports Star of the Year at this year’s Diva Awards.
The annual DIVA Awards are a celebration of the achievements of gay, bisexual and trans women across business, the media, politics and sport.
Morgan beat off competition from former England forward Lianne Sanderson, Arsenal forward Beth Mead, welterweight boxer April Hunter, racing driver Charlie Martin and slalom canoeist Fiona Pennie.
The 31-year-old spent six years with Tottenham – broken briefly with a loan stint at Arsenal – before switching clubs last summer to play for Palace in the FA Women’s Championship.
The Palace goalkeeper juggles her football commitments with her day job at a national law firm, where she specialises in cases relating to serious brain injuries.
Morgan also manages to work as a goalkeeping coach and diversity and inclusion officer with Goal Diggers FC, an award-winning amateur club for women and non-binary people.
In September, she joined the board of the influential network organisation Women in Football. In recent weeks, M-Power Goalkeeping Coaching has been squeezed into her Twitter bio as well.
The programme is designed to help boost the ranks of shot-stoppers coming through in the women’s game, and with Bristol City’s Sophie Baggaley and Leicester’s Championship title-winner Sophie Harris already on board.
As with Goal Diggers, Morgan wants to make sure everyone feels welcome – it’s all abilities, all-inclusive.
“I’m really excited about it,” she said earlier this week, speaking at a panel event hosted by the Woman@Sky and LGBT+@Sky network groups for Lesbian Visibility Week.
“M-Power is specifically for girls and women, including trans, and non-binary people. It’s about trying to encourage more people to get into goalkeeping because I think it’s still one of those areas, for the men’s and women’s games, that has not been at the forefront of agendas. Outfield players have always taken priority.”
