Sam Kerr backflips on her backflips in Chelsea triumph

Sam Kerr obeyed for 16 months the Chelsea instruction to ditch her trademark backflip — until her hat-trick in the Women’s League Cup final.

Sam Kerr is the centre of attention as Chelsea celebrate. Picture: Getty Images.

Sam Kerr was warned against doing backflips when she signed with Chelsea. For 16 months she dutifully kept herself restrained but her rapture en route to a hat-trick in the Women’s League Cup final meant the most joyous and distinctive celebration in Australian sport could be contained no longer.

In the end, Kerr did a backflip on not doing backflips for the Blues.

The superstar Matilda started the prestigious Vicarage Road clash against Bristol City with a goal in the 90th second. It was kinds funny. She was practically in the net herself when the ball trickled towards her. She tapped it in with her left boot and laughed her head off. Couldn’t have missed if she tried. She gave everyone a hug, especially Fran Kirby, but the backflip had still not been seen in all her time at the distinguished club.

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In the 10th minute, Kerr was in open space at the top of the penalty box. A gentle touch off her right foot and then a bullet of a left-foot shot, on the slide, found the bottom right of the net. It was the quickest start since Marvelous Marvin Hagler versus Thomas Hearns at in 1985. She got up off her backside and trotted away.

You’d nearly forgotten by now the trademark backflip even existed. Having tweeted on International Women’s Day, “Happy international bad ass day,” she succumbed to her rebellious streak and took to the air.

She did a skip and a couple of flips for the first time since her Blues’ manager, Emma Hayes, had told her to shelve it when the contract was signed in November, 2019.

Hayes knew it would come sooner or later, the backflip on no more backflips. Because of the bad-ass streak. “I’m shaking my head because I’ve waited 12 months for that,” Hayes said. “She could’ve given me a heads up. The second half of the flip was very sloppy. It would’ve been a 4.0 at the Olympics.”

Sam Kerr unveils her trademark backflip after scoring for Chelsea at Vicarage Road. Picture: Getty Images

Kerr is a bit out of sight and mind while she’s playing her trade in England but it won’t be long before she’s front and centre again. She will be instrumental for the Matildas at the Tokyo Games after their heartbreaking penalty-shootout loss to Brazil in the quarter-finals at Rio. And the women’s world cup in Australia and New Zealand is only two years away.

Her dynamite performance was a timely reminder that not only is the 27-year-old still around, and probably the best women’s player in the world, she’s also at the age and stage where she’s ready to peak.

Her third goal at Vicarage Road made her the first player to score a hat-trick in the Cup final. Kirby dished up another delightful ball to Kerr, who unleashed another forceful strike that left her grinning and hugging everyone all over again.

She’s won three trophies since going to Chelsea, forming an untouchable alliance with Kirby, the England international who scored two of the Blues’ goals and set up the other four. “We are not stopping here — we will enjoy it tonight but tomorrow we turn back to the league,’’ Kerr said. ”We are going to keep going until we win as many trophies as we can.”

She enjoyed the post-match revelry if the photographs were any indication. She stuck her tongue out and raised an index finger while covered in gold streamers. A generous amount of champagne was poured down her gullet.

Before the Blues return to the Women’s Super League premiership with a game against Chelsea on Thursday, Hayes said of Kerr and Kirby, a duo more deserving of the Special K tag than Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis: “Today was a performance from a team that is very confident at the moment. Qualifying for the quarters of the Champions League has given us so much confidence. I thought we were unbelievable for the first 60 minutes. The pace, the intensity, the cohesiveness of the team. Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby were unbelievable.”