Soccer player Gabriella Howell hits back at sexist trolls

English soccer player Gabriella Howell is on a mission to prove that “you can still feel feminine and play football.”

The Sutton United star — who boasts 167,000 followers on Instagram — recently opened up about the sexist and derogatory comments she receives on social media.

“Men will say they’re horny underneath my photos of me playing football — and if I tag my club in the post it’s embarrassing,” Howell told The Mirror in an interview published April 7.

The 22-year-old also deals with trolls who say women “can’t compete” with men.

“You can be both – you can play football and like wearing high heels,” said Howell, who admitted that the lewd comments previously “broke” her.

“I like to keep [the hateful comments] on my profiles and I don’t delete them,” Howell said. “Young girls think they want to be an influencer but they don’t see the downsides. I like to make people aware.

“Not everyone’s going to like you. I repeat that to myself when I see these comments. You’ve just got to develop a thick skin,” she said.

In a February Instagram post, Howell addressed the comments she received about her looks and “being a woman in a man’s game.” At the time, Howell shared a photo of herself playing soccer, along with screengrabs of comments she received on her posts.

“Gabby how come you’re out of the kitchen?” one comment read, while another stated, “Let’s be honest, if half the women weren’t pretty they wouldn’t have a chance at football.”

Howell wrote in the post’s caption, “These comments I get weekly, and in all honestly, they make me laugh. I think it’s funny I rattle people because I have eyelash extensions whilst playing sport. But I do want this to change, it really shouldn’t matter how anyone looks, if they prefer the color red to blue nothing should matter other than attitude and ability.”

Howell began playing soccer at the age of 8, just a few short years before she started to compete for Crystal Palace.

“When I was about nine or 10 I got scouted at a game at primary school and then I started playing for Crystal Palace,” she previously recalled.

Howell played for Palace until she moved to Carshalton at the age of 16. She went on to play for Sutton United FC, where she has been playing on the first team ever since.

“The club has a really good setup for women’s football,” she said. “They really want to encourage young girls when they arrive and there’s no difference between male and female players.”