Aston Villa’s Alisha Lehmann tells mum not to read comments from online trolls
Aston Villa Women’s star Alisha Lehmann says she had to tell her mum not to read comments from her 13.1 million Instagram followers after trolls told her to ‘stay in the kitchen’
- Lehmann has more Instagram followers than any other female soccer player
- She has revealed that she regularly receives misogynistic comments from online trolls
- Lehmann has admitted to telling her mother to stop reading the comments
Aston Villa’s Alisha Lehmann has revealed that she has told her mother not to read the comments she receives on Instagram after being a victim of online abuse.
Lehmann, 24, has become the most popular female soccer player in the world on social media, with 13.1 million followers on Instagram, putting her ahead of tennis icon Roger Federer.
Still, the interactions she has with fans aren’t always positive, and the Swiss winger has admitted she made a conscious decision to protect her family from misogynistic comments from online trolls.
“There are always people who don’t support women’s football because they think it’s a man’s sport. Often people say, “Women can’t play football, they should be in the kitchen,” Lehmann said. Sky Sports.
‘But those people haven’t seen a single football match yet. That’s the problem, because when they come to the games and watch us, they say, “You can really play”.
Aston Villa’s Alisha Lehmann (second from left) has told her mum (second from right) to stop reading the comments she receives from online trolls on Instagram
Lehmann has maintained she doesn’t care about the misogynistic remarks, but is concerned about the consequences for her mother
‘Do you know what I actually think? Of course it’s not nice to say because we train so hard every day, but it gives me more strength.
“They are just bored in life and need to say something. And it’s always easy to say things behind a computer, I don’t think people would stand in front of our female footballers and say, ‘You can’t play.’
“I don’t really care (about the comments), to be honest. I just don’t read or watch. I just turn it off and focus on the good comments.
“It’s more for my family, sometimes I feel bad when my mom sends me things. I tell her: ‘Don’t read this, I would never read it’.’
Lehmann has built her fanbase by regularly posting about her daily life on social media, and the bisexual footballer has been involved in multiple high-profile relationships having previously dated Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz and her international teammate Ramona Bachmann.
She is “proud” that so many people are following her journey, but insists her football career will always be her priority.
“The people who know me always see the footballer,” she added. “Every time I’m with my friends and family I just talk about football.
Lehmann has built up a large following on Instagram by regularly posting about her daily life
Despite her social media profile, Lehmann insists that football will always be her number one priority
“It’s always been there, it’s deep in my heart, because it’s what I’ve always done. The other things arrived just in time.
‘Of course I have a lot of followers, but I never dared to dream that. I played and shared my life. It just turned out that way.
‘I don’t think I’m better than anybody, I come from humble beginnings with how I grew up with my family in Switzerland.
“I don’t see myself as someone with a lot of followers on social media, of course I’m proud of that – besides my football – but that doesn’t change anything.”