A transgender footballer forced to quit a women’s league after opposing teams refused to play against her has a secret past as a sex worker who dressed up as a ‘mischievous schoolgirl’ for paying clients, can reveal.
Fran Needham, 30, earlier this week withdrew from the South Yorkshire-based Rossington Main Ladies ‘for the foreseeable future’ after players withdrew from facing her over alleged ‘safety’ concerns last weekend.
Now the row has taken a new twist as it has emerged that Needham was previously a prostitute who apparently specialised in “cheerleader/schoolgirl” scenarios.
She conceded that this had happened but, while acknowledging her colourful past, Needham insisted this should have no bearing on her eligibility to play women’s football.
And she told her opponents were intent on forcing her out of the game by ‘dragging up the past.’
Francesca Needham, 30, is a trans woman footballer who was forced to quit women’s league
On her prostitution profile she said she was happy to see male and female clients and enjoyed a variety of sexual fetishes including lactation, role play and foot worship
Although Needham boasts of the ‘extra surprise hiding under my skirt’ on her escort profiles, the FA approved the trans woman’s application to play against 16-year-old schoolgirls
Ms Needham said she now works full time in a regular job and is no longer engaged as a sex worker, pointing out that her profile on a sex work website is now redundant.
She said: ‘It is not an active profile, I accidentally left it up but it’s something I stopped doing before I began playing football.
‘It is something I have done in the past, I will agree and I am not going to lie about that. However everyone has a past and it shouldn’t be brought up out of context.
‘I stopped doing this well before I joined the team and had anything to do with the FA.
‘My personal life is completely separate and distinct from my football life. I have a full time job now and that is part of my past.
‘All I want to be able to do is play football or at least support the team that I played for. I have had tremendous support from my teammates and I’m grateful for that.’
It’s unclear when the sex worker profile was active and Ms Needham declined to discuss further.
Fran Needham used the username TS_Cleo_King to advertise her sexual services
She said: ‘I am open to dinner dates and other events, and I always look stunning in a dress or skirt or top’
Ms Needham registered on adult site in 2022. Her profile has been viewed over 30,000 times
Her angry reaction came after thousands of likes for posts revealing how Needham had previously advertised her services as a ‘Pre op trans girl to make your dreams come true.’
Posting a picture of herself in schoolgirl garb, she wrote: ‘Transgender girl before surgery ready to fulfil your fantasies! She can also play the role of a mischievous and entertaining schoolgirl revealing an exciting surprise hidden under her skirt.”
Nicknamed Fran, Needham withdrew from South Yorkshire’s Rossington Main Ladies (pictured), which plays in an open age league that welcomes any woman above the age of 16
The 30-year-old has ‘terrified’ her opponents and ‘broke one girl’s knee, leaving her out for the season, after the opposing player blocked one of Needham’s shots’
She also suggests clients may wish to play the role of a ‘naughty schoolgirl’ who has been sent to her for “punishment.”
The profile has horrified the footballing community in South Yorkshire where Ms Needham was forced out of the Sheffield and Hallamshire Women’s League because “terrified” opponents refused to play against her.
A source close to the women’s football community said: ‘It is clear the birth male playing on the ladies team has been a sex worker.
‘This is a massive safeguarding concern.
‘It’s worth bearing in mind this birth male would be sharing changing rooms and single sex spaces with young females.”
In another of her prostitution profiles, Needham said: ‘I can be your naughty schoolgirl… we can roleplay a cheerleader or schoolgirl scenario’
Ms Needham is now in the process of instigating legal action against the FA.
In a statement posted to the Facebook page of her club, Rossington Main Ladies, based just outside Doncaster, she says her side has ‘faced challenges from teams unwilling to play against us while I am on the field.’
She adds: ‘This unfortunate circumstance has prompted me to investigate pursuing a case of discrimination, as I believe it represents a breach of a code of conduct regarding diversity and inclusion, as well as safeguarding of adults in football established by both the Football Association and the Sheffield and Hallamshire Women and Girls League.’
The boycott from other teams in the league came about when a player was injured in an on-field incident involving Needham.
The opponent is said to have suffered a broken knee when blocking a powerful strike from the Rossington player.
Needham has only played two games in the league this season, both last month, but hasn’t lined up for the club since it became mired in the controversy.
A manager from an opposing team said it was clear after five minutes that Needham was transgender.
The manager said ‘It was obvious. Unfortunately, the FA allowed it to happen but didn’t let anyone know. She’s quite a big strong player. People have refused to play because they are worried about the safety of the players.
‘My players were backing out of challenges as psychologically it’s quite a big thing, when you are playing against a biological man it’s quite scary. They were terrified.’
Rossington Main President Gerald Parsons refused to comment on the controversy apart from stating that their opponents ‘couldn’t raise a team’ in recent weeks.
The manager of one of the teams to refuse to play explained the boycott, saying: ‘I have 16 and 17 year old players playing for me and their parents weren’t too keen to put their welfare at risk.
‘It is a welfare issue rather than a transgender issue.’
The Family Education Trust’s Lucy Marsh told : ‘It is a serious breach of safeguarding rules to allow a male who clearly has a sexual fetish about dressing up as a schoolgirl to have access to changing rooms and bathrooms alongside girls as young as 16.
‘This individual has a public profile as a sex worker and posts explicit images online. Many players in this women’s football league are under 18, meaning that legally they are children.’
Fiona McAnena of Fair Play For Women said: ‘Footballers are separated by sex for very good reasons.
‘If you put one male on the pitch they are faster, they are stronger. It is patently unfair and in a contact sport like football it’s unsafe.
‘These women didn’t choose mixed football, they chose women’s football. It’s not because this player is trans, it is because they are male.’
She said it ‘doesn’t matter’ whether the player has fully transitioned or not as Sports Council guidance states ‘it’s not possible to reverse the effects of male puberty.’
She added: ‘The law says you can separate in sport on the basis of sex if that is necessary for fairness and safety and clearly it is.’
The FA has a new draft policy on transgender players that is yet to be published. Ms McAnena said the FA had consulted on updating it and ‘they need to do something about it urgently because women and girls are getting hurt in football.’
There are presently at least 50 transgender players understood to be registered in women’s leagues across England.
But Needham was backed by her club and fans. Following her departure, supporters said it was ‘saddening’ and vowed to ‘stand by’ her as she ‘paves the way forward’ for other trans players.
The ladies’ team secretary said ‘in unity we defeat discrimination’, while supporters rallied around the former prostitute.
Supporter Sarah Nicholson said: ‘So bloody saddening that it has come to this! Wishing you all the best Fran xx.’
Simon Baker said: ‘A big decision Fran, but one I believe your teammates, club officials and every Rossington Main Ladies FC supporters, RMLFC, supporter will stand by you on. All the best going forward.’
A third supporter, Julie Large, said: ‘Hope everything gets sorted soon it’s a very delicate situation but hopefully you will pave the way forward so no one else has to go through what you have xxx.’
Rossington Main Ladies president Gerald Parsons told : ‘I don’t know anything about it and I don’t wish to make a comment.’
An FA spokesman said: ‘We are working with Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA to find a resolution.
‘This issue is complex and constantly evolving, and like many other national governing bodies in sport, we are currently reviewing our transgender policy for English football to ensure it is inclusive, fair and safe for all.’