Guernsey FC Striker Calleigh Hedley Returns to Football with Baby Luca

Calleigh Hedley is smiling when she talks about football. She lights up when she talks about Luca.

"I'm not looking forward to spending whole days away from him," Guernsey FC’s prolific striker admits. That’s the trade-off now. Goals on one side, her baby son on the other.

Hedley has just returned to action after giving birth to Luca, having missed half of last season once she became pregnant. The comeback is not a simple fitness story. It’s early alarms, disrupted sleep, feeds, and then somehow finding the energy to train for a new campaign in the English league pyramid.

She leans heavily on the people around her.

"My family are amazing, they're always helping me with Luca," she told BBC Radio Guernsey. "If I need to go to the gym or anything, they're always offering 'we'll have him for a bit so you can go do what you need to do'.

That support stretches across matchdays too.

"For the away games, for the home games, they say 'we'll have him, don't worry', so it's been a massive help."

The Green Lionesses know exactly what they’re protecting. Even with her season cut in half, Hedley still tore through defences. She played only eight times last term yet scored 16 goals, finishing as the sixth-highest scorer in the Southern Region Women's Football League Division One South. Those are title-race numbers, not cameo figures.

Guernsey FC, heading into just their second season in the English structure, are banking on that form surviving motherhood. Early evidence suggests it might do more than that.

Last month brought a landmark: Guernsey’s first-ever appearance in the Women's FA Cup. On paper, it finished as a 3-2 home defeat to Chessington & Hook United. On the pitch, it was a reminder of what Hedley brings. She scored both of Guernsey’s goals, the first arriving barely two minutes after kick-off.

"I was shocked," she said. "I wasn't sure I was even going to get a goal, let alone score in two minutes.

"It definitely helped me feel a bit better coming back into it, and I obviously had my family there watching and Luca was there, so it was really nice."

The scene said plenty: a new mother, back leading the line, with her son in the stands as she marked a club milestone.

Now the focus sharpens. The Green Lionesses open their league campaign at home to Bognor Regis Town on Sunday, before being flung straight into a gruelling run of three consecutive away games. For most squads, that’s a logistical headache. For Hedley, it’s emotional.

Those trips mean dawn starts, flights to England, and late returns to Guernsey — full days where football takes her away from Luca.

"I don't know if I'll be able to commit to every single away game," she admitted. "But I will definitely be trying to do some, but it'll be difficult having a day away from him."

Guernsey need her goals. She needs her son. The season will tell how often those two worlds can meet.