Molly Bartrip - Molly's journey

In July 2021, Molly Bartrip rejoined Tottenham Hotspur, the club where she had started her career as a nine-year-old.

Bartrip was 25 at the time of her homecoming, which she called a “full circle” moment. She had been away from the club for 16 years, most recently at Arsenal and Reading, and hit 100 WSL appearances in April this year. 

However, “full circle” also referred to the journey she’d been on as a person in that time.

In February 2022, half a season into her second stint with her club, Bartrip detailed that journey in depth in a piece for The Players’ Tribune.

The piece, titled ‘Ana’, after the name Bartrip gave to her anorexia, is brave and brutally honest.  She shared her experience of anorexia nervosa, which she was diagnosed with at the age of 14, and severe depression and anxiety, which she was diagnosed with a few years into playing professional soccer.