Aaron Ramsdale has written an emotional piece for the Players Tribune, where he speaks about his brother, pressure from social media, his wife’s miscarriage and more
Aaron Ramsdale penned an emotional piece for The Players Tribune, where he reveals private family matters. Titled ‘Oh Shut Up, Ramsdale!’, the Arsenal goalkeeper spoke about the pressure of his move, and the pain of his wife’s miscarriage and much more.
Ramsdale moved from Sheffield United to Arsenal in 2021 for a fee of around £30m, signed by manager Mikel Arteta. The goalkeeper had suffered successive relegations with Bournemouth and his boyhood club.
People were quick to take to social media to have a pop at Aaron, saying how his two relegations means he isn’t a good player. “I see that the news has leaked, and I am getting absolutely roasted”, he wrote.
Aaron then spoke about some other hardships he’s faced in his career, such as when he was released by Bolton and then struggled to find a club, and facing some stick from fans in the stands. And then he says: “This is where things get a bit serious, I’m afraid.”
He continued: “After the high of climbing to the top of the Premier League table and going off to my first World Cup, my wife and I found out that we were expecting our first child. Mikel gave me a few extra days off after the World Cup, so we went on a brief holiday.
“It was genuinely the happiest time of our lives. And yeah … there’s no easy way to say this, but I feel like it’s important that people know.… On the flight home, my wife had a miscarriage.
“There’s really no way that I can describe the pain of that six-hour flight back to London, even now. I just want people out there to know that they’re not alone if they’re going through it themselves. When we got back, I didn’t tell many people what happened. Only my family, my teammates, and of course Mikel. He was fantastic about everything.”
Ramsdale also pledges to stamp out dressing room homophobia, revealing that his brother, Oliver is gay. He wrote: ‘My brother is gay, and he’s lived his life in an open and authentic way since he went off to school. I’m so proud to say he’s my brother.
“I haven’t talked about it before, but with everything going on in football right now, I thought it was important to mention. Oliver is a lot like me, in many ways. He’s a regular bloke. Loves football. Loves knocking about with his mates. Loves the Gunners. He’s proud of me, and I’m really proud of him.
“Over the years, I’ve probably bit my tongue a few too many times — both in dressing rooms and on social media — whenever I hear homophobic comments or stupid things being said. And I think maybe my brother has done the same, thinking it would make my life easier.”