Football Barbie

PRIVATE jet one minute, David Beckham the next, Middlesbrough-born Kay Murray has the kind of job most women (and men) could only dream of.

Bumping into Cristiano Ronaldo in his Speedos hasn’t happened yet, but with an access all areas pass, even that isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.

Kay, 30, works for Real Madrid TV, the official channel for the famous Spanish football club. Not only does she get access to some of the best looking players in the game, she gets a glamorous wardrobe to boot. Behind the scenes, however, it’s more of a slog. Sixteen-hour shifts and standing on the pitch in skyscraper heels in torrential rain isn’t for everyone – even the most hardened Beckham fan.

Kay has had a passion for football since she was young and grew up with posters of Gazza on her bedroom walls.

“I was only nine when Gazza cried in Italia 90, but I’ve loved football ever since,” she says. “My granddad was a huge fan and I used to go and watch Middlesbrough with him.”

Her first break came when she won a competition to become the official ‘Boro Babe’ for Middlesbrough FC’s former TV channel and was later offered a job, co-presenting the pre-match warm-up show Soccer Surgery. She went on to study journalism in London, worked for a local paper and did a stint on a TV shopping channel, before landing the job at Real Madrid and relocating to the Spanish capital where she currently lives.

Real Madrid TV is the only football club channel to have a dedicated English speaking service. Kay started off behind the scenes, cutting, editing and writing the team news. Five months later, she was promoted to TV reporter and five years on, she hosts the main show, Extra Time, as well as a new series doing one-to-one studio interviews with the likes of Ronaldo and manager Jose Mourinho.

“Jose Mourinho is amazing to interview because his answers are brilliant,” she says. “He’s a really interesting guy, very charismatic.”

Kay has formed a good relationship with the team and recently accompanied Real Madrid goalkeeper and Spanish captain Iker Casillas, on a private jet to Geneva when he was named UN ambassador.

Another highlight was meeting David Beckham, who was at Real Madrid when she joined. Kay says she will never forget the first time she met him. “I was so nervous on the morning I completely forgot to clean my teeth. He was lovely – as you’d expect, polite and totally charming. I remember thinking he was even better looking in real life than he was in photos.”

While the job has its perks (fivestar hotels, personal stylists, a makeup artist, hairdresser and massive fashion discounts), Kay does have to put in the hours. “Seventy per cent of the time it’s hard slog and we’re in our baseball boots and hoodies back at the studio,” she says. “Kick-off can sometimes be at 10 o’clock at night and we’ll have been there since eight that morning. Once the game is over, I interview the players, then go back to the studio and edit. I have to make sure I sleep when I can because there are periods when I’ll only get four or five hours a night.”

That said, she has still found the energy to go out and celebrate a win, even after a 16-hour shift.

One of the most memorable games to date was when Real Madrid won their 31st league title in Pamplona and she was chased by security guards after invading the pitch, in 4- in heels, trying to get quotes from the players.

Kay says there is no pressure to glam up (the heels are her choice).

It’s more important knowing how to behave around footballers.

“I don’t think you should be afraid of your femininity just because you’re a woman working in football.

It’s important to look your best in any job, especially if you’re in the public eye,” she says.

Aside from the remarks made by sacked Sky Sports presenters Andy Grey and Richard Keys about Sian Massey, Kay says she has never encountered any sexist behaviour. She has styled herself as a “football Barbie”

and describes her blog as “football with hairspray and heels”.

“One thing I have found is that women haven’t been given as many opportunities in England as they have in Spain, particularly in football,” she says. “Yes, there are a lot of beautiful girls working in the sport in Spain, who know their stuff as well, but there are also a lot of normal-looking girls working in the industry, who are genuine football fans. Men in Spain don’t make a big deal of it if there’s a woman on telly.”

Kay believes England is still lagging behind when it comes to giving women opportunities to work in football.

“It’s getting a bit better, but I ended up doing a lot better in Spain,” she says. “There are girls who are brilliant at football, really know their stuff and are missing out to glamorous girls, who are using football as a springboard to get ahead in TV. I think there has been a lot of that.”

As much as she loves living in Madrid, Kay misses the British sense of humour and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a move back to the UK one day, anchoring a TV sports show.

“I want to bring some more fun back into the game like the days of Fantasy Football with Skinner and Baddiel,” she says.

So could she ever envisage herself becoming a WAG?

“Oh no, definitely not, going out with a footballer doesn’t appeal to me at all,” she says. “I like the idea of being able to go down the pub with someone and not having to worry about other women throwing themselves at him.”

Her idol is Bobby Robson, who she once had the privilege of interviewing.

There is only one player, though, who leaves her totally starstruck – and that’s the same one who was plastered over her bedroom walls when she was nine.

• Kay is an ambassador for Euro Champs Challenge (eurochampschallenge.com). Follow her on twitter @FootballBarbie1