Chelsea striker Sam Kerr will appear in court next year charged with the alleged racially aggravated harassment of a police officer, adding a further layer of uncertainty to her future with the reigning Women’s Super League (WSL) champions.
Kerr has been ruled out until at least the end of this season since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury during a warm-weather training camp with Chelsea in January. Her contract expires this summer and, while The Athletic has reported she has agreed a new one in principle to remain at the west London side, nothing has been formally signed yet.
Here, we look at what the police charge means for the player and her club.
What exactly has Kerr been charged with?
On Monday, it emerged Kerr, one of the global stars of women’s football, had been charged by police on January 21 under Section 4A of the UK’s Public Order Act.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the charge “relates to an incident involving a police officer who was responding to a complaint involving a taxi fare on January 30, 2023, in Twickenham”.
The 30-year-old pleaded not guilty at a hearing at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court, south-west London, on Monday. Kerr is due to appear at a trial at Wimbledon Magistrates Court, also in south-west London, on February 1, 2025.
What have Chelsea and Kerr said about the situation?
Neither player nor club have made any public statement about the charge. Chelsea’s position is that they cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings, so it is unlikely we will get any form of official statement from them before next year’s hearing.
Kerr spoke only to confirm her identity and enter a plea of not guilty in court on Monday. She is likely being advised not to comment publicly until legal proceedings are over, and in any case, her lengthy rehabilitation from that ACL injury will heavily restrict the opportunities for journalists to speak to her.
The interesting aspect is that all of this has only become public knowledge now, 14 months after the alleged offence took place.
It was clearly in the interests of Kerr and Chelsea to keep the situation as quiet as possible, but the fact nothing came to light last year — or at the very least when Kerr was formally charged in January — reflects that high-profile female footballers do not yet face the same level of media scrutiny over their off-field conduct as their male counterparts.
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This is Sam Kerr, Australian sporting icon
What is Kerr’s current situation at Chelsea?
Kerr is recuperating after surgery to repair the knee injury she suffered at the club’s training camp in Morocco in January; not only is her 2023-24 season definitely over, it is likely she will be out for most of this calendar year — Australia’s star player will certainly miss their involvement in the Olympics football tournament in France this summer.
Chelsea responded to her injury by spending what was at the time a world-record transfer fee on Colombia international forward Mayra Ramirez. Ramirez was brought in for the long term but also to cover for Kerr in the shorter term and the 24-year-old scored her first league goal for the club in a 4-0 win at Leicester City on Sunday.
Kerr’s injury means she has played her last game under outgoing Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, who is leaving the club this summer to take charge of the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Whether she has already played her last match for Chelsea remains to be seen. Kerr’s current contract, a two-year extension signed in 2021, expires at the end of this season.
Does this news change Chelsea’s approach to renewing her contract?
Interestingly, there has been no formal announcement of the contract extension that The Athletic reported Kerr had agreed in principle in January.
That agreement to renew leaked four days after Kerr had been charged with this offence. It is not known whether Chelsea knew about the trial at that time and it remains unclear whether or not a new contract has actually been signed.
If it has not, there is nothing legally to prevent Chelsea from parting ways with Kerr when her existing deal expires this summer — though it is very unusual for clubs to renege on agreements in principle and rarer still when dealing with such high-profile talent. That said, The Athletic reported this week that Manchester United did exactly that with now-Arsenal striker Alessia Russo last year.
Such a dispassionate move would also run contrary to the words of Hayes when Kerr suffered her injury in January. “Today is about letting Sam know that she’s with her Chelsea family and we’ll look after her,” Hayes said.
Hayes, as stated, will leave Chelsea at the end of their current season, leaving Kerr’s future ultimately in the hands of others at the club. What is clear is that the beginning of 2025, which the 30-year-old will have earmarked for her grand comeback from injury, will now be overshadowed by events off the field.
How important is Kerr to Chelsea?
Kerr joined Chelsea in 2020 from the Chicago Red Stars and has gone on to score 99 goals in 128 appearances. In that time, she has won the WSL four times out of four, the FA Cup three times and the League Cup twice. She also helped Chelsea reach a first Champions League final, in 2022.
Well known for her ability to score in crucial moments, Kerr has 10 goals in seven domestic cup finals for Chelsea and her volley against Manchester United on the final day of the 2021-22 season helped clinch the WSL title and won the goal of the season award. She also has two Golden Boots as a season’s top scorer from her time in England and has been named Chelsea Women’s player of the year for the past three seasons.
In the absence of England and Chelsea captain Millie Bright, who has been struggling with her own knee injury, Kerr had been given the armband by Hayes. Her subsequent injury was seen as a potentially devastating blow to the manager’s attempt to finish her own time at Chelsea with more silverware.
Given how crucial Kerr has been to the side over the past four years, she is also considered an important figure in terms of continuity as Chelsea look to move on from Hayes’ 12-year tenure.
How damaging could this be to Kerr’s status as one of the world’s best players?
Kerr is one of the most famous players in women’s football, with her personality and brand ensuring she is recognised all over the world and is one of the game’s best-paid players.
As well as having been placed in the top three for the Ballon D’Or Feminin award in each of the past three years, her fame has also been bolstered by commercial deals, such as becoming the first female player to appear on the global cover of the FIFA video game.
The effect this situation will have on her status will only really become clear when she returns to fitness either later this year or early in 2025. It is likely to come shortly before her scheduled court date at the start of February.
Kerr produced one of the iconic moments of last summer’s World Cup when she scored against England (Ane Frosaker/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
What has the reaction been like in Australia?
Before 6.30am on Tuesday, lots of Australians received a push notification informing them about this story, and then again with more information on Wednesday. This is major news, given Kerr’s status in her homeland.
Prominent pundit and former Australia men’s team player Craig Foster wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that this was “unexpected and distressing news for all football”. As was the case in England, there had been no public suggestion that Kerr was the subject of a police investigation and so the story came completely out of the blue.
Wherever you went in Australia during the Women’s World Cup it co-hosted with neighbouring New Zealand last year, you were greeted with a building-size advertisement for the tournament, usually with national-team captain Kerr staring back at you. She has been an integral part of making the Matildas into the national heroes and hugely popular team they are. When you go to a game, or even just to the beach, it’s not just women and girls who have Kerr’s name and No 20 printed on the back of Australia shirts, it’s anyone and everyone.
The limitations on what can be discussed once a person has been charged in a UK court means there is only so much that can be said while proceedings are ongoing, but the question over her status as Australia captain has been part of the debate that has followed the news.
Should she be stood down until the verdict? Some suggest it might be best, but for now, her long-term injury means manager Tony Gustavsson does not have to make a decision on that issue.
Additional reporting: Liam Twomey and Abi Paterson
(Top photo: Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)
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