Admittedly, as Fabulous watches them queue in teetering stilettos and skimpy outfits, they don't exactly look like a force to be reckoned with. But you underestimate them at your peril. This is one team who'll do anything to achieve their goal.
These are the Wagabees - the wannabe WAGs who'll stop at nothing in their ruthless pursuit of the ultimate prize: a footballer to call their own. When it comes to playing dirty, forget bad tackles and diving, some of these girls think nothing of spiking a rival's drink to take her out of the game, or using sexual favours to buy their way into a VIP area.
With a recent survey of 13 to 19-year-old girls finding that more than 50 per cent would rather be a footballer's wife than a charity campaigner or an MP, there are going to be more and more women chasing players to achieve their WAG dreams. And, judging by the crowd tonight, things are getting nastier and more competitive than ever.
Outside the club, French-manicured talons tap impatiently on Swarovski-encrusted mobile phones as the covens of mini-skirted girls wait for updates from friends inside about exactly which footballers are out on the town.
But the slicker operators, like Lucy Jackson, 22, a beauty therapist from Essex, leave nothing to chance. With military precision, she's already done the necessary reconnaissance and knows exactly which of her targets lie within.
"I'm a member of a private WAG Wannabe Group on Facebook," she explains. "Club and bar owners post details saying when players will be in and we plan our nights out accordingly. Having sexy, scantily-clad women around the venue is good for business, so everyone's a winner."
Like any professional team, the Wagabees have their regulation kit. Hair extensions and a Lycra micro-mini that exposes as much fake-tanned flesh as possible are pretty much standard issue. As we check out the crowd hovering around the dance floor, it seems that fake boobs are an optional, and popular, extra.
Tonight, the girls are hunting in packs of three or more and, while some head straight to the bar, others take their mission more seriously and remain resolutely sober.
"Sometimes you only get one opportunity to get into the VIP area," one confides. "I don't want to blow my chances because I'm too drunk."
Not that they're all averse to making sure others are too drunk, as Lucy explains: "Four months ago, I was out at a London nightclub with some friends. We spotted a 'rival' group of girls immediately. One girl in little more than her underwear was trying to flirt with Ashley Cole. I wasn't having that.
"There was a bottle of vodka on the table and so every single time her back was turned, I poured another couple of shots into her glass. An hour or so later she was slumped in a corner, slurring. Needless to say, she didn't get anywhere with Ashley." Lucy didn't either.
Tonight, the club's packed by midnight. "You have to have your wits about you," Lucy says. "Girls are always making snide comments, trying to destroy each other's confidence, but they're very careful to keep all this out of the footballers' sight."
She's not wrong. The toilets are full of women who 30 seconds ago were smiling angelically on the dance floor, but who are now spitting venom.
"That bitch is getting too close," rants one girl to her friends. "We've got to get rid of her. I'll slap her if I have to."
Back on the dance floor, all eyes are on the VIP section, which is closely guarded by burly bouncers.
These men might not be rich or attractive, but the power they wield means they're frequently objects of some Wagabees' affections. "I've tried joining the Wannabe WAG Facebook group, but it's an elite group and they haven't accepted me, so I do anything I can to get what I want," says Amy*, 24, a secretary from Kent. "I use bouncers and barmen who can get me closer to the players. I've often had to pull them in order to get into the VIP room."
While we may be out in London, similar scenes are happening in nightclubs across the country. Because from Glasgow to Portsmouth, wherever there's a football team, there are Wagabees aplenty.
Katy*, 22, is one of them. During the week she lives with her parents in a wealthy suburb of Manchester, working as a temp. But at weekends, she has another 'job'.
"I dedicate my life to trying to pull a footballer," she says.
With 'ordinary' girls like Coleen McLoughlin and Alex Curran marrying footballing heroes Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard respectively, it gives the wannabes of this world - mostly girls next door like Katy and co - hope.
Feminist sociologist Dr Maddy Coy, from London Metropolitan University, believes there's been a shift in society, which has propelled this desire for fast fame and fortune. "Young women these days seem to value their bodies more than their brains," she says. "We see images of scantily-clad women everywhere - in music videos, in adverts - and it becomes normal. As a result, women value themselves as an object, something that looks good and will make a good accessory for someone like a footballer."
And the fact that the objects of their attention are local makes them all the more appealing.
"While you're very unlikely to get within a mile of any Hollywood star, you could potentially bump into a Premiership player in a bar you can actually get in to," explains sports journalist Alison Kervin, who has written a series of novels about WAGs.
But make no mistake, these girls are out for money and fame. "One of my friends got the number of a footballer after pulling him in a Manchester nightclub," says Katy. "She sent him a naked picture of herself, then they started 'sexting' and she had him trapped."
"He paid her £5,000 not to tell anyone what he'd been up to - she bought a car with the money. Of course I'd like a footballer as a boyfriend but, either way, there's money to be made from just being with them."
Katy makes it sound simple but, as any wise Wagabee knows, you don't just have to snare one man, you have to get his friends on side and be prepared to be, well, generous.
"I thought I'd hit the jackpot a few weeks ago," Katy says, explaining that a dark-haired, Armani-clad man had beckoned her over to his table. "My friends recognised him as a second-division footballer, so I was really excited. But as I walked over, the two male friends he was sat with shook their heads. They'd rejected me. It was so humiliating."
"When it comes to choosing a girl, it's a joint decision," Katy adds. "The whole group has to approve, as they'll probably be sharing her anyway. That's just the way things work."
Because the stakes are so high in this particular game, the depths to which some girls will sink know no bounds.
It's something Lucy's also aware of - and she's not ashamed to exploit it. "A couple of years ago I went out with a player in one of the Premiership's junior teams," she says. "We've kept in touch and I'll occasionally text him pictures of me in my lingerie. I know he'll share them with other players. I look at it as leaving my calling card - maybe one of them will ask for my number."
Back in the London club, it's 3am. Excitement levels reach fever pitch when a man dressed as Spiderman is somehow wheeled into the VIP room on a table.
"I bet that's a player," one girl gasps, as the Wagabees speculate that he's using the outfit to escape the paparazzi outside. But as he disappears into the night, still unidentified, it's clear none of the girls are going to score with him tonight.
But is all this actually worth it? Is life as a footballer's wife or girlfriend as glam as it's made out to be? After John Terry and Peter Crouch had their dirty dalliances made public, Toni Terry and Abbey Clancy would probably be the first ones to tell you that being a WAG isn't all hearts and designer handbags.
"Living with a footballer can actually be really hard," says Lizzie Cundy, 38, who's married to former Chelsea player Jason Cundy. "It's all about them. If they get injured or they're not playing, you have to deal with that."
Not to mention the fact that you'll be elbowed aside by wannabes trying to get what you've got.
"I've lost count of the number of times women have shoved their numbers in my husband's pocket or jumped in my seat the minute I went to the loo," says Lizzie.
Alison Kervin agrees. "It can be a lonely life. Often, you have to move to different cities or countries, leaving friends and family behind. Yes, you get the car, the house and the clothes, but often not much else."
But this doesn't deter Amy and her ilk. "As long as I had a ring on my finger, I'd take him to the cleaners. And if we weren't married, I'd turn a blind eye until we were."
But, despite her best efforts, she's going home tonight without even a phone number. She's disappointed, but she'll be back again next week. "I'm sure I'll pull a footballer soon enough," she says. "It's a waiting game, but I'm willing to play for as long as it takes."
Stupid man :L he left cheryl for that mess LOL! Silly silly man.
This article has 8 comments
Is this what I have to look forward to when I move to London next week? I'm not interested in a footballer because well, as an American, I ain't interested in soccer or the players! lol
By Noria.. Posted September 13 2010 at 11:01 PM.
Stupid man :L he left cheryl for that mess LOL! Silly silly man.
By Maya.. Posted September 12 2010 at 9:39 PM.
Yuck! I feel violated after reading that! These "women" are nothing but vile filth.. How can they even have their faces in the mag and have no shame? Yuck.. They deserve all of the abuse they will no doubt get.. Just pure gutter trash!
By kendra.. Posted September 12 2010 at 7:54 PM.
This is appalling! if this is what we call 21st century of 'women empowerment' and 'gender equality'...i'd rather go back to 50's where women are more valued and respected in the society. This is my generation where i should be proud and think that we are more liberal, civilized and we are not less or more than men...unfortunately we are the opposite...its just a new level of prostitution, in the name of glamorous lifestyle!!
By candy.. Posted September 12 2010 at 1:13 PM.
this is absolutely pathetic.desperados. girls literally throwing themselves at footballers to become their object. no wonder these footballers who get paid ridiculous amounts of money think they can cheat lie and upset everyone else as long as they get their own way. i went out with a footballer (quite well known one) for around 2 years and its the worst thing i have ever done in my life. wouldn't even brush shoulders with a footballer ever again and i certainly wasn't looking for one.
By jen.. Posted September 12 2010 at 9:39 AM.
If you tolerate this then your children will be next.
By hugh cares.. Posted September 12 2010 at 9:28 AM.
A slight amendmendment to Mr Martins comment on behalf of the female species.
"MATERialist - Latin root is Mater "Woman", SOME women have always been like this".
I feel like having a blast at men but I'm not hormonal enough... go and have a lay down with a nice hot water bottle Mr Martin, you might feel better.
"MATERialist - Latin root is Mater "Woman", SOME women have always been like this".
I feel like having a blast at men but I'm not hormonal enough... go and have a lay down with a nice hot water bottle Mr Martin, you might feel better.
By Nikola.. Posted September 12 2010 at 7:51 AM.
Women are just gold diggers, try working hard and saving for your families like men are expected to do. Women look for short cut to get a man's wealth and power , these women are just immoral, same as prostitutes
MATERialist - Latin root is Mater "Woman", wwomen have ALWAYS been like this.
MATERialist - Latin root is Mater "Woman", wwomen have ALWAYS been like this.
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