Kickette.com – Soccer/football gossip, hot players, WAGs that love them

October 1st, 2007

The WAG’s Diary: Meet Alison Kervin

Kickettes, meet Alison Kervin, author of our new training manual and bible, The WAG’s Diary. 

Alison is a critically acclaimed sports writer, and she got the idea to write a novel about the wagtastic way of life after meeting and witnessing the English WAGs during their infamous Baden Baden World Cup adventures last year. 

The WAG’s Diary is Alison’s first novel (she’s written six non-fiction sports books on everything from rubgy to athletics – this gal knows her sports) and it stars Luton Town head WAG, Tracie Martin, a lovable diva trying to keep the WAG reputation up to par.

Click through to read our Q&A with Alison, who fills us in on what it takes to become one of the chosen few.

WAG’s Diary Competition – Winners have been notified, check your email!

Q: What is your best recommendation for becoming a WAG?

A: Based on the current Wags, I’d say that getting in early is the key. One of the nicer things about the whole Wag phenomenon is the fact that many of the girls have known the footballers since they were young, and before they became international footballers.

I think what is happening now though, is that footballers are becoming targets for acquisitive young women once they become famous, so I suspect that will change over the coming years.

Q: Did you have anyone in particular in mind when you wrote the character of Tracie Martin? (She’s wonderful, by the way).

A: No, I didn’t, and a few people have asked ‘is it Coleen?’ ‘is it Victoria Beckham?’ but I don’t think you have to get too far into the book to realise that it’s not! I did talk to a lot of Wags and I would say that she represents the very best parts of the ones that I met. The nastier parts of the Wags I met, or heard about, have been boiled down and turned into Angie – Tracie’s mother.

Q: How did you get some of the more high profile WAGs to agree to be interviewed? Did you learn anything from them that really surprised you?

A: They were really helpful and talked to me on the condition that I didn’t mention their names, so I won’t! I was surprised by how much they drank – I don’t mean that in a judgmental way – I genuinely was surprised (and, I have to say, impressed!) by the size of the big nights out.

I was also surprised by how sorry I ended up feeling for a lot of them. They were very likable and enormously friendly but they seemed strangely lonely in their ivory towers and eager for appreciation. I was eager to weave a touch of this latter characteristic in to Tracie because I do think it’s a trait that runs through the Wags I met.

Q: Many WAGs have to deal with tabloid tales of their husbands cheating on them – do most of them stay in the relationships out of love, or out of their commitment to the lifestyle?

A: I think most of the Wags are in love with their husbands. As with most relationships – it’s about the family, the lifestyle and everything, and they clearly love the lifestyle, too. But from what I saw, the vast majority are very much in love with their husbands and slightly threatened and panicky about the young girls who hang around them.

Q: Do you agree with Roy Keane’s statements about the WAGs controlling their men?

A: Yes and no….I think the Wags are more influential than people outside football might realise. They can be easily dismissed but they’re a powerful group (very forceful, from what I saw). I think they support their husbands and their husbands careers, but if they genuinely think that moving would be a mistake for them, their husbands or their families, I didn’t meet one Wag who would have been shy about saying that!

Q: Finally, tell us more about Tracie Martin – and the type of WAG she is…

A: I wanted to write about a really lovely Wag – not in the traditional tart with a heart – but someone who had all the qualities, good and bad, of being a Wag. I wanted her to be a complete caricature Wag, but was made well-rounded by her fundamental decency to others. I think that comes out in the relationships that my Wag (Tracie) has, and the way she treats people.

She changes through the course of the book and becomes more streetwise, but I tried to retain her decency and simplicity. She loves being a Wag and has all the unashamed qualities of a Wag, but is still very likeable and human/frail at the same time. The temptation was to make her realise, through the course of the book, that there was more to life than being a Wag – throw off her designer togs and high heels and renounce the high maintenance way of life, but that felt like a bit of a cop out, so the challenge was to keep her as Wag through and through, but have her emerge as likable anyway.

Don’t forget to check out The WAG’s Diary website, order the book online, and sign up as Tracie Martin’s mate on Facebook.

The WAG’s Diary is out this month on Avon/Harper Collins.