'We'd only unpacked one night': WAG life in League One means five house moves in five years
While the Premier League's biggest stars dominate transfer-window headlines, the reality for most footballers' families is far less glamorous. Jessica Beaumont, partner of League One winger Owen Dale, has lifted the lid on life on the other side of deadline day — and it involves five house moves in five years, a labour-ward phone call, and a Portsmouth move she never saw coming.
'Owen was on the phone while I was in labour'
Dale now 27, has spent most of his career in League One, with two Championship stints at Blackpool and Oxford United. Last season he was on loan at Plymouth Argyle and is currently a free agent. Many of his moves, like so many in football, have happened on deadline day itself.
Recalling the most dramatic of them, Beaumont told BBC Sport: "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."
That loan deal wasn't to a local club, but to Portsmouth — more than 200 miles from home. Beaumont had never even visited the city, and the couple had only just collected the keys to their first house in Congleton.
"We spent one night in there — we hadn't even unpacked," she said. "When the move to Portsmouth happened it really hit me — I had to quickly realise that 'OK this is now my life'."
'I did feel really out of control'
The couple decided a 10-hour round trip on Owen's day off to see his newborn son was not viable. "We thought 'if he's not playing well because he's tired, what's the point in doing this'?" says Jessica, who adds they ended up renting out the Congleton house and have lived in rented accommodation ever since.
The upheaval forced her to abandon her career plans. "I was finishing my law degree and had a job at the time — I had to say to them I wouldn't be coming back from maternity leave," she said. Post-natal complications made travel difficult, and the decision-making fell to her partner.
"I had Owen on the phone basically saying, 'I've done a couple of house viewings. I've chosen this one. This is where we're going to be living' and showing me on FaceTime," she recalls. "In that moment I did feel really out of control."
Uprooting at short notice and leaving family behind was challenging — Jessica remembers spending a lot of time alone in Portsmouth while Owen was at away games. But there were positives, including a friendship with another player's partner. "Our schedules were the same — when Owen went away her partner was also away — I didn't have to be fully alone and she got it," she says.
'Until the contract's signed, you could end up anywhere'
Owen says he is "very aware of the sacrifices" his family make. "There's always the risk that a move might not work," he says. "So I might uproot my whole family for this next venture and it all goes south. Over the years I've learned that until there's a contract signed on the dotted line, you could end up anywhere."
As a free agent, Owen can now join a new club without a transfer fee because no former employer owns his registration rights — but that also means the family is living with maximum uncertainty as the summer window plays out.
'We can't live like Premier League players'
Beaumont is keen to challenge the stereotypes that come with the #WAG label she uses on TikTok to document her experiences. "When you think 'Wag' and you think 'footballer', both of those terms come with this stereotype that our lives are easy," she says. "People also put League One players in the same bracket as Premier League players. In the Premier League they're often set up for life — we can't live in that way because we have to prepare for life after football."
That reality was brought home at Portsmouth, where Owen's parent club Blackpool were relegated. "Owen wasn't even involved that season, but his wage was still affected," she says. "You have to be prepared for everything. You just can't live outside of your means."
Injury is another spectre. "Luckily, Owen's been good with injuries. There are some players who get injured in the last month of the season and they're out of contract. In football things can be really positive or really negative."
Stability for Xavier and Etta
The uncertainty now extends to their children, four-year-old Xavier and two-month-old Etta. "Now that Xavier is growing up — he's fast approaching school age — another thing that will have to be added into the mix is his stability," Jessica says.
Even a fourth birthday party couldn't be taken for granted. "We couldn't plan to have a party in Plymouth with balloons and cakes etc because we didn't know if we were going to be there," she says. "Instead we planned a party near my family in Stoke-on-Trent — we needed to make something work regardless of what happens with Owen's job."
Despite the sacrifices, she remains philosophical: "As much as I worry about Xavier and Etta, I also think how amazing it's going to be for them when they're older to be able to tell their life story and say they've lived in all these different places. I think it's teaching them a good..."
'It's his career — I can't get emotionally involved'
For now, Beaumont's legal career is on hold; she works in social media from home and posts about her experiences on TikTok. "My career can be picked up at any time — whereas his career is right now and you've really got to take every opportunity," she says. "As much as people say it's a glamorous lifestyle you do make sacrifices so your partner can have their dream and get themselves as far as they can in football."
That means keeping emotional distance from homes they may barely settle into. "We usually rent newer houses that are a blank canvas so we can make them our own, although this last season the accommodation was provided furnished by Argyle," she says, adding that the family referred to their Plymouth home as "the holiday house". She sums up the philosophy: "At the end of the day, as much as I'm involved, it's his career. That means in order for me to support him properly I can't get emotionally involved."