Former Lionesses Karen Carney & Ellen White surprise graduates at Pixel Academy with inspiring speech | OneFootball

Two former Lionesses, Karen Carney and Ellen White, made an appearance at Pixel FC Academy graduation ceremony on Thursday where they delivered an inspiring speech to media students.

The Pixel FC Academy is a course run by Google Pixel which aims to provide female creators with opportunities and training in media as well as a springboard into the industry.

Pixel FC Academy is supported by some of the biggest clubs in England, with Arsenal and Liverpool both supporting the project since it launched in October 2024.

What did Ellen White & Karen Carney say?

England icons-turned pundits Karen Carney and Ellen White both showed their support for the young women in media this week with a surprise appearance at Pixel Academy’s graduation ceremony.

White, who is England women’s all-time top scorer, said: “I’ve loved seeing all the incredible work as well as hearing about the positive impact Pixel FC Academy has had on the graduates and it’s provided crucial industry experience which will set them up brilliantly for their future careers. The girls are incredibly talented, so they should believe in themselves and they’ll succeed.”

The graduates have already had some success just from being on the course alone, with 120 social media posts combined producing over 1.6million views already.

Karen Carney gave an inspirational speech of her own, saying: “The growth in women’s football has been amazing to see over the past few years and it’s great to see the drive to do more in the game. I love the work Pixel FC Academy is doing, empowering more women to enter the industry.

“My message to girls watching, who want to get into the sports media industry would be to go for it. You can see the impact that programmes like this can have and the support is now there to help you achieve your dreams.”

Since retiring from football Carney has built an impressive presence in not only the women’s game, but also the men’s, with the 37-year-old often working as a pundit for the likes of TNT Sports, Sky Sports, ITV and Amazon Prime.