HIBERNIAN midfielder Lucy Graham returned to training on Thursday night for the first time since the sudden death of her mother in October and is now more determined than ever to make a success of her football career.
The 21-year-old was in Minsk with the national squad when her mother died, but the news was withheld from her until the players arrived back in Scotland.
“My family knew I was coming back the next day anyway, so they thought they would wait and save me the worry on the trip home,” she says. “When we landed in Edinburgh they were at the airport. I couldn’t understand why, and that’s when they told me my mum had passed away in her sleep. It was such a shock and a wee bit of a blur.”
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When Graham had recovered her composure, the player penned a beautiful tribute to the 47-year-old.
“It was that fairytale mother-daughter relationship,” Graham says. “She inspired me, she was iconic and she was my best friend.
“She pushed me in the right direction ever since I was a toddler, regardless of whether it was in football or anything else. She would do everything for me and never had any barriers – she was such a proud mother.”
Ruth Graham was particularly proud on September 14 when her daughter finally got to make her Scotland debut. Like other talented players in the Scotland Under-19 side, Graham had been left increasingly frustrated at the lack of senior team opportunities.
The magical first cap finally arrived at tea-time 20 miles outside Budapest when, with Scotland leading Hungary 2-0, new head coach Shelley Kerr took Jo Love off after 51 minutes.
“I’m so happy my mum was still with us when I got my first cap,” Graham says. “I had proved myself so many times within that environment, but it was knock back after knock back, and setback after setback.
“I would be told I was doing well and knocking on the door – they were telling me I was doing everything right, but not giving me any rewards or explanation for not being picked. It was frustrating, but that’s football sometimes.”
Graham’s debut had been an early birthday present, arriving just before her 21st on October 10. It was another event which she was able to share with her mother.
“That was the last time I saw her,” the goal-scoring, box-to-box midfielder says.
Had life continued normally, Graham would have remained with the Scotland squad at their Edinburgh base on the night of October 20. They had come home from a 2-1 victory over Belarus in the opening Group 2 World Cup qualifier to prepare for a match against Albania four days later. Graham didn’t feature in Minsk, but with Kerr rotating her squad would have had a chance of a second cap at Love Street, a game Scotland won 5-0.
Instead, and with Hibs chasing a treble, Graham took time out, playing no more football in 2017. The Edinburgh club, who also saw head coach Chris Roberts depart for Bristol City during the run-in, had their title hopes crushed on November 12 when they lost 3-0 at home to Glasgow City.
That still left the SSE Scottish Women’s Cup final against the same opponents a fortnight later when the scoreline was reversed by Hibs.
“I did swither about it,” Graham confesses, “but I knew myself I wasn’t 100 per cent switched on and that wasn’t fair to my team-mates. If you’re not ready to play, what’s the point?”
A picture of the Liverpool supporter grinning with Jamie Carragher when she attended a match with boyfriend Scott at Anfield on the second last day of a traumatic 2017 is evidence of life returning to some sort of normality. Further proof is her tongue-in-cheek comment that it was the former England star who approached her for the snap.
In the circumstances it was inevitable that Graham would not be included in Kerr’s squad for the upcoming friendlies against Norway and Russia, but the head coach did contact her before the announcement.
“It’s a big goal to get back into the Scotland squad and secure a place in the team this season – but it’s up to me to show I’m ready to be considered again,” Graham says. “I’ll get a good few friendlies under my belt, and the start of the season [on February 11] should be a positive one for me.”
The player, who spent five months on a professional contract at the Swedish club Mallbackens IF in 2015, works part-time in a supermarket but yearns to make football her full-time occupation again.
“That’s my dream and my ultimate goal,” she says. “After everything that has happened in the last three months I feel more inspired and determined than ever.
“When something like that happens it puts massive perspective on life and how short and bitter-sweet it can be at times. You have to really go for it when you have the opportunity.”