Leicester’s Jess Sigsworth: ‘I’m addicted to Lego. I’ve built Wembley and Old Trafford’

“You might be very surprised at the answer to this,” says Jess Sigsworth. “It’s not easy to guess what I like doing on days off.”

The Leicester forward is talking about the need to unwind from the stresses of a Women’s Super League relegation battle and the all-consuming nature of her new obsession. “It’s Lego,” she reveals. “I’m addicted. I’ve built Wembley and Old Trafford.

“When you’re doing Lego your mind’s taken off everything else, it’s the only thing that matters and, by the time you finish, you can’t believe two or three hours have just gone. It stops me thinking about football all the time.”

Leicester, too, are building something special, but not unexpectedly their WSL debut season involves considerable mental strain and an outlet is essential. “Football at this level can be quite intense,” Sigsworth says. “Especially if we haven’t got the result we wanted at the weekend the girls can be a bit down. It can be all football, football, football and worrying about what we need to achieve, so it’s quite nice to switch off every now and then. I think if I just thought about football all the time I’d drive myself mad.”

It was at her previous club, Manchester United, that she was introduced to Lego. “I started last year when we went into lockdown and I just got addicted,” she says before joking that resultant construction projects could yet affect this summer’s holiday plans, with Dubai and Florida facing serious competition from an unlikely rival.

“I love Dubai and I love Florida and but I’ll obviously have to take a trip to the Legoland resort in Denmark at the end of the season. The only problem will be having enough suitcases to bring it all back in!”

By then the 27-year-old trusts last year’s Championship winners