Zoe Maguire and five famous football mums

14 Sept 2023 12:48 BST
5 min read

The mothers of Harry Maguire, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nicolo Zaniolo — © ProShots

The mother of Harry Maguire has spoken out over the criticism of her son, insisting some of the ‘disgraceful’ comments go ‘far beyond football’.

Maguire has endured strong criticism in recent times, with a string of errors leading to him being dropped by Manchester United and culminating in an own goal for England against Scotland earlier this week, with the 30-year-old being jeered by both sets of fans from the minute he was subbed on in the second half.

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The reaction to Maguire caused England boss Gareth Southgate to label the discourse around the defender as ‘a joke’, and the player’s mother, Zoe, took to Instagram to make a post defending her son.

She wrote: “As a mum seeing the level of negative and abusive comments which my son is receiving from some fans, pundits and the media is disgraceful and totally unacceptable to any walk of life, never mind someone who works his socks off for club and country.

“I was there in the stand [at Hampden] as usual. It’s not acceptable what’s been created, over nothing. I understand that in the football world there are ups and downs, positives and negatives but what Harry receives has gone far beyond ‘football’.

“For me seeing him go through what he’s going through is not ok. I would hate to have to see any other parents or players go through this in the future, especially the young boys and girls breaking through the ranks today.

“Harry has a massive heart and it’s a good job he’s mentally strong and can handle it as others may not be able to. I wish this sort of abuse on nobody.”

Zoe Maguire is not the first mother to gain headlines in the footballing world and FootballTransfers takes a look at which other players have mums who have become famous throughout their careers.

Veronique Rabiot

Arguably the most controversial and headline-grabbing parent in football, the mother of Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot is also his agent and has had plenty of things to say during her son’s career.

A number of transfer dealings involving Rabiot have fallen through due to Veronique’s behaviour, such as demanding to speak to high-level figures at clubs and operating with high-ball negotiations.

Veronique has also fallen out with family members of her son’s teammates, including at the 2020 European Championships, while also describing Adrien as a ‘hostage’ at Paris Saint-Germain due to the player being dropped to the reserve team.

BACKGROUND: All the drama surrounding Veronique Rabiot

© ProShots - Veronique Rabiot has attracted controversy as the agent of her son, Adrien

Maria Dolores

Maguire’s mum isn’t the only player to have come to the defence of her son on social media – even the GOATs often have parents fighting in their corner, such as Maria Dolores, the mother of Cristiano Ronaldo.

She was outspoken during Ronaldo’s controversial exit from Man Utd last year, taking to social media to echo comments made by a Portuguese journalist and telling manager Erik ten Hag to ‘f*** off’.

“As far as the Dutchman who has managed you in these last few months goes, I just want to laugh,” she posted following Ronaldo’s spat with Ten Hag. “How can you compare what you are to a miserable footnote in football history!”

Fayza Lamari

The life as the mother of a superstar is clearly a demanding one, with Kylian Mbappe’s mum Fayza Lamari also grabbing headlines during her son’s transfer drama involving Paris Saint-Germain.

Lamari acts as the agent for her son and reportedly had huge demands for Real Madrid during their protracted negotiations for Mbappe, before eventually doing the same with PSG when they kept hold of the French star.

She was also supportive during times he faced criticism with the French national team, saying: “He had become the one to be shot in the public square and there, it is the mother who intervenes. He’s going to make mistakes, but he didn’t deserve everything that happened to him. So in that situation, I go out like a wolf.”

Francesca Costa

Meanwhile, in Italy, the mother of former Roma forward Nicolo Zaniolo went viral after her son had to remind her of her age due to her posting eyecatching photos on Instagram.

"Stop mum,” he posted in 2019 in the comments of one of her photos. "What are you doing with your mouth like that? You're 40!"

Zaniolo eventually fell out with Roma fans after pushing for a move away, with supporters holding up banners declaring him a traitor, leading to Costa commenting on the ‘excessive’ hate, saying: “Before it was only the Lazio people, now even the Roma fans are picking on my son, what a disaster.”