"Owen was on the phone to the manager and his agent while I was in labour. They waited for me to give birth and then he went out on loan pretty much as soon as I was out of hospital." Owen Dale's loan deal wasn't to a local club, but to Portsmouth - a city more than 200 miles away. His partner, Jessica Beaumont, had never even been there.
And the pair had only just got the keys to a house they had bought. They would end up staying in it for just one night. "Since living together, we've moved five times in five years," says Jessica.
"You have to be prepared for anything in the transfer window. But it's also a really fortunate position to be in at a young age." This period - when clubs are permitted to buy, sell and loan players - takes place twice a year, in January and during the summer, for clubs in the Premier League, the English Football League (EFL) and the Women's Super League (WSL). While a select few stay in one place throughout their career, for most players moving from club to club is just part of life in the modern game.
Jessica met Owen when he was at Crewe Alexandra. A move to Blackpool soon followed. "I didn't get together with him because he was a footballer so I never considered the footballer life - that he might just have to move at the last minute," she says.
"We just met and we clicked." But it soon became apparent that dealing with almost constant uncertainty would be part of that life. The move to Blackpool was a loan, with an option to buy, so for six months - during which Jessica was pregnant with their son Xavier - they did not know whether he would be staying there or heading back to Crewe. Blackpool decided to sign Owen, but he was soon out on loan again.
This isn't uncommon, with loan deals a way for clubs to help young prospects gain first-team experience and get regular playing time elsewhere. "When the move to Portsmouth happened it really hit me - I had to quickly realise that 'OK this is now my life'," says Jessica. Just before Owen's loan deal to Portsmouth the couple had bought their first house together in Congleton - a town close to Jessica's family in Stoke on Trent, and commutable to Blackpool.
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