Calleigh Hedley Balances Motherhood and Football Success
Calleigh Hedley stands at the heart of two very different worlds right now.
On one side, she is Guernsey FC’s ruthless finisher, the striker who needed only eight league games last season to rack up 16 goals and finish as the sixth-highest scorer in the Southern Region Women's Football League Division One South.
On the other, she is Luca’s mum.
Both roles matter. Neither is negotiable.
A new season, a new balance
Hedley has returned to the pitch after giving birth to her son, having missed half of last season once she became pregnant. The comeback is not just about fitness drills and minutes in the legs. It is about flights, childcare, and the ache of time spent away.
"I'm not looking forward to spending whole days away from him," she admits.
That is the reality behind the goals. Guernsey’s women, the Green Lionesses, live on an island. Every away match in the English pyramid means an early start, a flight to the mainland, a game, and a return late that same day. For a new mother, those hours stretch.
"I don't know if I'll be able to commit to every single away game," she says. "But I will definitely be trying to do some, but it'll be difficult having a day away from him."
The club will hope she can make as many as possible. Her numbers demand it.
Goals, even on limited time
Despite playing only a fraction of last season, Hedley’s 16 goals lit up Guernsey’s debut campaign in the English system. She did not just contribute; she led. She set a standard.
The early signs this season suggest nothing has dulled.
In Guernsey’s first-ever Women's FA Cup tie last month, at home to Chessington & Hook United, Hedley scored both goals in a 3-2 defeat. She struck the first just two minutes after kick-off, a reminder of her instinct and timing.
"I was shocked," she said. "I wasn't sure I was even going to get a goal, let alone score in two minutes."
For a player returning from maternity, that moment carried more weight than a simple statistic. It was proof. Proof that the touch is still there, the movement still sharp, the net still within reach.
"It definitely helped me feel a bit better coming back into it," she added. Her family watched from the stands. Luca was there too. That mattered as much as the brace.
Family as the safety net
If Hedley is to keep scoring at this rate, the support structure around her will be every bit as important as the service she gets in the box.
"My family are amazing, they're always helping me with Luca," she told BBC Radio Guernsey. When she needs to train or get to the gym, they step in. "They're always offering 'we'll have him for a bit so you can go do what you need to do'."
Matchdays are no different.
"For the away games, for the home games, they say 'we'll have him, don't worry', so it's been a massive help."
That backing allows her to chase two ambitions at once: to be present as a mother and prolific as a striker. It is a delicate balance, but one she is determined to manage.
Guernsey’s hopes rest on her finishing
Guernsey FC now prepare for their second season in the English league pyramid. They host Bognor Regis Town on Sunday in their first league game, before a demanding run of three consecutive away fixtures.
Those trips will test the squad. They will test Hedley in a different way.
The club know exactly what she brings. A player who can turn half-chances into goals, who can change the feel of a match inside two minutes, gives any side a foothold in a division. Guernsey will lean on that edge again.
The question now is not whether Calleigh Hedley can still score. She has already answered that. The real test is whether she can keep threading that tight line between motherhood and the mainland, and still carry Guernsey’s goalscoring burden as the season gathers pace.
