Kirsty Linnett & Becky Jane criticise Liverpool over contract retractions

Kirsty Linnett and Becky Jane have both publicly criticised Liverpool, citing a lack of care or consideration over the treatment of its women players after contract offers to the pair were retracted by the club without them being told.

Linnett and Jane will both leave Liverpool this summer as a result of their respective current contracts expiring, but the issue is with how the club has poorly handled the situation.

Linnett explained that her agent had only been informed that a contract offer was no longer on the table when he got in touch with the women’s team general manager to move the process forward. She accused the club of lacking ‘manners and morals’ in their approach to female players.

“After three years at Liverpool my time has sadly come to an end,” a clearly frustrated and let down Linnett posted on Twitter.

“It would have been nice if someone from the club had the decency to tell me that they were retracting the contract offer they had previously sent my agent.

“I feel that after three years at the club the least I deserved was a face to face meeting the moment they knew they wanted to let me go. Instead of calling my agent, telling him and then asking him to decide whether to tell me or the club call me.

“It’s also said this situation was only brought to light after my agent had emailed the GM to further the negotiations.

“Football is football, but where does it stop? I’ve not hard feelings with being let go, it’s part of the game. What upsets me is the club campaigns for mental health yet treat their own players with such little regard and respect. I’m not the only one who’s felt like this either.

“Let’s hope clubs can do better by their players during these difficult times and act with more care for the people involved as manners and morals cost nothing.”

Jane, who joined Liverpool from Reading in 2019, had a similar experience over her contract.

“Unfortunately, similar to Kirsty Linnett, the club have retracted my contract offer in a similar way,” she explained on Twitter. “As female footballers with zero security as it is; the least we deserve is to be treated better and with respect. It takes nothing to be kind.”

Liverpool, who were back-to-back WSL champions in 2013 and 2014, have been heavily criticised for a perceived lack of adequate support for their women’s team in recent years, especially when the women were not part of the move to a new state of the art training facility in November.

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