WSL stars Jess Carter and Ann-Katrin Berger have announced they are set to be married in an emotional social media post after a New York City proposal.
The romantic announcement comes just two months after their former Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, who has left to take over as USA boss, controversially said player relationships were “inappropriate”.
In response to those comments, the 26-year-old England international Carter liked a number of posts on X that described the remarks as “beyond bonkers”.
But the defender and German international Ann-Katrin Berger, 33, refused to let that affect their relationship.
And despite the fact that the goalkeeper has just penned a one-year deal with Gotham FC in America, their relationship is stronger than ever.
The pair confirmed their engagement late on Sunday evening with a message on X.
Carter, who has over 31,000 followers on the social media channel, shared a snap of herself posing alongside her long-term partner in New York City in front of the Statue of Liberty.
Carter, showing off a dazzling ring on her finger, captioned it with: “7 years down forever to go.”
Then Berger followed that up with another snap of them together and, along with a heart and ring emoji, captioned it: “Best trophy so far.”
The pair met while playing for Birmingham City in 2016 but it was after reuniting at Chelsea that their relationship began three years later.
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Berger has twice bravely battled and beaten two bouts of thyroid cancer since they started dating.
Amazingly, she was back playing for Chelsea within a month after announcing her cancer had returned in 2022.
There are a number of other player-to-player relationships within the Women’s Super League.
Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead and Chelsea’s Sam Kerr relationship with West Ham’s Kristie Mewis are just two of the most high-profile.
But Sheffield United sacked their Women’s team manager Jonathan Morgan back in February when it emerged he had a relationship with a player while at a previous club.
And Leicester sacked boss Willie Kirk, who declared that he “hasn’t committed a crime”, for sleeping with a player just weeks ago.
Hayes made headlines when asked for her thoughts about “inappropriate” player-on-player relationships.
She said: “I think player-coach relationships are inappropriate, player-to-player relationships are inappropriate.
“But we have to look at it in the context of where the game has come from and say we’re in a professional era now where the expectations in place for players and coaches is such that all of our focus and attention has got to be on having the top standards’”
But Hayes would later backtrack and state that she had “let herself down” after clearing the air with Carter.
Hayes said: “Of course I’ve spoken with her [Carter].
“This is all I’m gonna say on it. I want to be clear to everybody in the room. I don’t want to create any more clickbait headlines for you guys.
“I think sometimes that becomes the case when we have honest conversations about things. Of course I’m disappointed about that. Of course Jess and I have had a conversation today, as I have with other players within the team.
“They know exactly who I am and they know exactly what my intentions were. But I have to expect that I’m supposed to be the most well-trained, non-clickbait headline coach and I let myself down yesterday.
“I didn’t think it was right for me to use the term inappropriate for the players. Nonetheless, when we have honest conversations about these things I don’t take those things back but I have zero criticism of any player in my dressing room for anything.
“They’re professionalism, for what they’ve given to the club regardless of their status, regardless of who they’re in a relationship with.
“I’ve been unbelievably supportive of all of the players. I’ve been a champion for quality and equity. I think, sadly, this has become a topic that’s blown up in an unnecessary way.”
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