KATIE McCABE interview: Why I made the move that rocked women’s football, the social media backlash after joining Chelsea from Arsenal and why I can’t wait to win trophies at Stamford Bridge

Of all the transfers that rocked the women’s football world this summer, none were quite as dramatic as that of Katie McCabe’s. Even with two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas and former Lioness goalkeeper Mary Earps WSL bound, McCabe’s move across the capital from Arsenal to Chelsea eclipsed them all.

McCabe had luckily anticipated the furore, making the prescient decision to take herself off social media while it was being announced. As a result, she managed to avoid the areas of the internet which made for grim viewing as incensed keyboard warriors reacted to the news, although she is, of course, keenly aware of it.

Now, just over a couple of months later, it is easy to understand why when McCabe takes a seat with Daily Mail Sport at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground to talk about her decision to move from the club where she spent over a decade to their fiercest rivals, she is choosing her words carefully.

‘Coming into the end of my Arsenal contract, there was a lot going on behind the scenes,’ she says. ‘It was important for me to connect with the people I trust and the people around me who care about me and know me – I was leaning on people for their support.

‘And then having conversations with the Chelsea manager and understanding what she wanted and the clear ambitions from the club, it matched what I wanted perfectly. I’m just delighted to get going now.’

Arsenal’s releasing of cult hero McCabe at the end of her contract this summer was a result of a longer-term strategy intended to freshen up the women’s senior squad and bring the average age down. The 30-year-old has joined long-serving players such as Beth Mead, 31, and goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger, 30, out of the door.

The fact the club decided to offer McCabe a new contract in April, as per reports, suggests they realised they had made a mistake. But by then it was too late. The wheels were in motion, and record eight-time WSL winners Chelsea managed to bat off competition from last season’s champions Manchester City for the left back’s signature.

Yet the intricacies of a football transfer, where countless conversations are happening behind the scenes, are often lost on the masses (‘You can’t expect everyone to understand,’ McCabe graciously says).

In this instance, the vitriol was uncomfortable. Among them, one person shared a picture on X of a cut-up McCabe jersey. Another, who labelled her a ‘snake’, wrote: ‘This is probably the worst thing Katie McCabe could have done for not only her career but as a person. You not only are hated by the Chelsea fans, but now you lose the support from the Arsenal fans who saw you as a legend.’

McCabe clearly anticipated that the fans of the club she has been loyal to for over 10  years would be surprised, but it’s posed to her whether she foresaw this level of backlash.

‘I think growing up the last 10, 11 years as an Arsenal player, being on that journey with the fans from Boreham Wood to what we had created to the Emirates, winning trophies together, it was always going to be difficult for the Arsenal fans to see me move on, especially to a rival club,’ she says.

‘I understand the frustrations and that, but coming off social media was more so the timing of everything. It was the first day of international camp that it got announced, and my focus was being away with Ireland. I didn’t want anything to interfere with that, any outside noise.’

Social media abuse in the women’s game is rife, with female athletes facing 19 per cent more online harassment than their male counterparts. It is a problem and unfortunately doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon.

‘I think if you’re talking strictly football opinions, I’m all for that,’ McCabe says. ‘If people or pages tend to get personal, then that’s another story.

‘I keep it at a distance. For me, the most important thing is what my team-mates think, the manager, staff and the people I work with around me and, of course, my close circle of people away from football. That comes with experience.’

Experience is something McCabe has in abundance. She may be one of the most successful women’s players of the modern era, with seven major trophies in her cabinet, yet to the Arsenal team and its fanbase she was so, so much more. ‘We’ve got McCabe’, they would sing every matchday, which she happily echoed back to them after ending their decade-long wait for a Women’s Champions League title.

McCabe is the type of player that you would love to have on your team but hate to play against. She is often viewed as the equal of Roy Keane, a useful comparison given she also wears the Ireland armband. Unlike Keane, McCabe has a surprisingly low red card count, just two in her career.

She was lucky to avoid a third in April when she pulled her new team-mate Alyssa Thompson’s hair in a Champions League meeting with her new side. The incident, which she claimed was a mistake, saw her new manager Sonia Bompastor receive her marching orders.

And while much has been made of those childhood allegiances with Chelsea, the reality of McCabe’s switch is far less sentimental. Chelsea signed her because they believe she can help them return to the top of the WSL and has experience of winning the one title that eludes them, the illustrious Champions League.

For McCabe, Arsenal may have been wanting younger blood, but she still feels like there’s plenty left in the tank and didn’t want to drop a level from one of the best clubs in England.

‘I’m in a good space in my career,’ she says. ‘I feel good, I feel fit, and I still feel like I’ve got a lot to give, and I think that was part of my thought process. Chelsea are a team that have fundamentally won for the last how many seasons. I want to be part of that. I want to bring trophies to Stamford Bridge, and I know there’s a hungry dressing room full of players as well that want that too.’

A player who likes to lead by example, McCabe makes it clear that she has no intention of barging into the place and immediately asserting herself, despite her leadership experience.

‘It’s a new dressing room. It’s a new environment. It’s a new game model, so for me, it’s about coming in, getting my head down, getting to work and earning the respect of my team-mates first and foremost.

‘I’ve been working really closely with the team over the last few weeks, and with Sonia and the technical staff as well, to understand how we play. Then I can step into my role, bring my experience where I can and help the players around me too.

‘There’s two ways of looking at it, but for me, since I’ve come in, I just want to get my head down, work hard and show the girls I’m ready to be here and compete.’

McCabe won’t have long until Chelsea host her old side at Stamford Bridge – they are just the third fixture to follow Aston Villa for next weekend’s WSL opener. We await the home end singing ‘We’ve got McCabe’ with glee.