Hawa Cissoko has begun her fourth season with West Ham United.
In July 2020 she signed from French side Soyaux, two years after West Ham were granted a licence to play in the Women’s Super League (WSL).
Since joining England’s top tier, West Ham have finished seventh, eighth, ninth, sixth and eighth — they are mid-table stalwarts, neither discussed for their title-winning capabilities nor ever really a relegation concern. But Cissoko has brought a touch of drama to the east London club, racking up the most red cards in WSL history (three).
With WSL referees ramping up the use of cards this season — the Manchester City v Chelsea fixture on October 08 attracted 11 yellow cards, including two reds (which is a WSL record for a single game) — Cissoko may need to exercise a greater degree of caution.
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The most notorious of Cissoko’s reds came in October 2022 for her altercation with Aston Villa’s Sarah Mayling.
Footage of the incident went viral.
But that was just Act One. The arguments spread into the dugouts, and West Ham’s then-manager Paul Konchesky ended up being sent off down the tunnel.
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Cissoko received an automatic three-match ban, which was extended to five, and a £200 fine ($242). Konchesky received a £325 fine.
Almost a year on, before the WSL’s opening weekend, The Athletic spoke to Cissoko about her fiery reputation and the abuse she received after the clash with Mayling.
“Some people have made a picture around me as a player, that I am aggressive,” says Cissoko. “But if you look, I commit fewer fouls than any other defender. Sometimes I finish games and I haven’t made a foul.”
Last season, Cissoko committed 0.9 fouls per 90 minutes — not the lowest in the league, but still outside the WSL’s top 50.
She says she did not deserve the first yellow of two that resulted in her being sent off against Tottenham Hotspur, and she feels the same about her first straight red for handball against Brighton & Hove Albion in 2021.
“The one against Aston Villa, that is a red card, that is fair,” Cissoko says. “But the other player (Mayling) only got a yellow card. She started it so should have a second yellow card. People have this picture of me, but it is not true. I am calm, I can be calm on the pitch.”
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Cissoko says it is not her responsibility to flip the narrative around her. “If I want to change the picture, I have to change my game, and if I change the way I play, I won’t be good,” she says. “I’m fast, I’m strong and I’m powerful. If I stop being me, West Ham are going to rip up my contract and I will be playing Sunday league.”
Cissoko publicly apologised for her conduct against Villa, but the incident provoked online abuse, prompting West Ham to release a statement five days after the game: “West Ham United can confirm that we have reported racist and abusive messages directed at Hawa Cissoko following Saturday’s game against Aston Villa.
“While we in no way condone Hawa’s actions on the pitch, for which she has apologised, everyone at the club is disgusted by the hateful content of the online messages subsequently sent to her. They have been passed directly to the police and reported to the relevant social media companies.”
Explaining how she dealt with the abuse, Cissoko says: “It’s hard, but it depends on who you have around you. If you have nice team-mates and your manager supports you and shows you love and respect, then it is easier. I have my own family as well.
“On social media, I just ignore people because it is not real. Those people, they can say a lot of things on social media but if they met me they would never say this because they would see I am actually human with a heart and feelings. If I turn off my phone, they don’t exist. The most important thing is the relationship I have with my team-mates, my coach and my family.”
What surprised her was the racist nature of the abuse. “It’s not that I thought the men were lying or that it wasn’t happening to them, but it never (seemed to) happen in women’s football, or maybe if it did then the women were quiet and didn’t make it public.
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“I didn’t expect it would happen to me, especially when the people that did it don’t even watch our games. If it was from people who follow the league I would understand a little bit more but when it was from not even French or English people, I was like, ‘You should focus on your own business’.
“I realised some people are just racist and they just find every opportunity to be racist and say whatever they want. When I understood this, it was easier to deal with. At the beginning, you take things personally, you think they don’t like you when they see you every week, they hate me. But when I realised it was fans outside the WSL, I thought, ‘They don’t care’.”
On the responsibility of social media companies to protect footballers, Cissoko says: “Some people send messages because they know that nothing is going to happen even if you tell them you’re going to the police, they know nothing will happen. We need more security.”
With West Ham kicked off their WSL season at home to Manchester City on October 01, losing 2-0. But this season Cissoko is optimistic, particularly after the club appointed Rehanne Skinner, a manager she was already a fan of.
“When I came to England, I was looking at her at Tottenham,” says Cissoko. “I am a big fan of female managers. When she signed for Tottenham, I said, ‘I would love to have her as a coach’, but I never thought it could happen here at West Ham. Then, when she was announced, I was excited but she doesn’t know that!”
In terms of what Skinner brings to West Ham, Cissoko says: “It is the way she sees people. I understand her more than I did some of my previous coaches, not just here at West Ham but over all of my career. It is about how you speak to people. She really takes the time to understand each player.
“Women understand other women better. The way to interact with women, Skinner knows how to do it because she is one herself. A woman knows how a woman will handle things.”
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On her future, Cissoko already has a plan: “I am going to tell you a secret. As players, everyone wants to be a journalist or a coach, but after my career, I would like to become a referee. Maybe I need to start learning with the under-15s and to go to their game and referee. Maybe it will change my mind. No top-level player in the men’s or women’s game has become a referee. Maybe I can be the first one.”
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(Top photo: Getty; Steve Bardens, Michael Reagan/UEFA, Plumb Images)