My United: Mazz Murray | Manchester United

How much did you enjoy the MAMMA MIA! link-up with Casey and the Women’s team as part of International Women’s Day?
I absolutely loved it. I was really excited to go and meet Casey and the girls and I didn’t really think it through in terms of how daunting it was going to be being in a room full of athletes and elite sports women. They are the best of the best and meeting Casey was such an amazing honour and I fell in love with her. She’s so talented, wonderful and strong and you can see why the players love her and depend on her, and you can see the strength and inspiration she gives them. I found it such a rewarding day and it really humbled me. We think of what we do in theatre and there are so many parallels and similarities between performers and athletes like the United Women’s Team because when you’re dealing with a vocation, whether it’s sport or show business or anything like that, there are no rules about where you come from in terms of talent. Everything in the news at the moment is about privilege and what you’re given, but there’s no money in the world that can make you sing a song and move somebody or make you score a goal. These are skills you just have. You are born with a flair to improve upon and because of that there is absolutely no saying what background you come from. Every journey is so individual and I recognised that when I was in the room with the girls. Some had come from unbelievably humble beginnings, some hadn’t, and it was just amazing to see the parallels. Just like us in theatre, they have this common love and common passion in football and it unites you. It sounds like a cliché but it’s what makes a team – you are part of a ‘club’ and that club doesn’t see race, it doesn’t see colour, it doesn’t see financial upbringing; you are there because you are one of the best at what you do. And there is nothing quite like that feeling.

And we get to see some of your football skills on show in ‘Centre Stage’ don’t we…
I showed off my football skills under duress! And I should say my football SKILL, which is that I can walk with a football! [Laughs] I took a penalty at the end of the training session which Rambo [United Women goalkeeper Emily Ramsey] let me score although the story I prefer to tell is I smashed the ball home and scored purely through skill… and it was hailstoning at the time, so you know it was in difficult conditions as well! [Laughs]

We hear Casey and the girls will be making a trip to the Novello Theatre to see you and the MAMMA MIA! cast perform once theatres reopen…
Yes absolutely. We can’t wait to welcome them all to the show. Casey of course came to visit me at the theatre for the link-up with United which was brilliant. We’re hoping to be back soon, when it’s safe of course, and it will be fantastic to have Casey and the girls here and I know they’re excited to see the show – there’s definitely a couple of the girls who can sing as well as play football really well!

Sadly the Women’s Super League has been cancelled for the rest of the season, but how pleased are you to see Ole’s men back in action?
I’m so happy football is back although it’s so strange with no fans. It’s a bit like watching a concert that’s being televised with no audience and you finish an amazing song and there’s total silence, like when a goal is scored. We’re so used to hearing the atmospheres. It’ll be interesting to see how it affects games and results and players because so much of that adrenalin is drummed up by the crowd and the fans cheering and shouting, and all that positive and negative energy is what some people perform with. It’s great to have Rashford and Pogba back fit again and I love Bruno. I’m just thrilled football is back and hopefully it will be a strong end to the season for us, ideally with a trophy or two.