Professional women’s footballer Mary Fowler published her autobiography, “Bloom: Creating A Life I Love”, on Nov. 18, 2025. Within the past 48 hours, details from the book have emerged regarding topics of mental health and racism.
Some accusations against MHSC included the coaching staff ignoring her after she skipped preseason due to competing in the 2020 Olympics, and the staff ignoring her complaints of severe chest pains.
The club responded to my request for comment with this official statement:
“Montpellier HSC was shocked yesterday to discover a number of accusations made by Mary Fowler, one of its former players, in her autobiography. Some of these accusations are particularly serious, and the resulting oversimplification, which portrays the club as a racist entity, is unacceptable, with unequivocal headlines such as: “Bananas as a parting gift: Football star denounces serious racism at a French club.” Faced with these allegations, the club is determined not to let defamation prevail over the truth and reserves the right to use all legal means at its disposal to achieve this. From a purely factual standpoint, the truth is unambiguous. On June 1, 2022, the women’s team played their final home match against Bordeaux. At the end of the match, as had been the custom for several seasons, two players whose contracts had expired and who had just worn the club’s colors for the last time were honored with a bouquet of flowers. This is neither the situation of Mary Fowler nor that of the teammate mentioned in her book, both of whom were still under contract with the club until 06/30/2023, and to whom it would therefore have been rather insensitive for the club to offer a “farewell gift”.
Regarding the alleged events that took place behind closed doors in the locker room after the match, after consulting with those present that day, no evidence has been found to corroborate his claims or even to identify the alleged perpetrator. Had such incidents been reported and substantiated, the club would have taken all necessary measures immediately upon being notified. Racism is a serious issue that cannot be exploited. The club wishes to reiterate its ongoing commitment to combating all forms of discrimination.”
The story within the pages that’s been making the most headlines is her experience with racism. Fowler explained how she and another Black teammate failed to receive flowers and instead received bananas.
“Afterwards, when we got inside the changing room, some of our teammates questioned why we hadn’t received any flowers. We shrugged our shoulders, just as clueless as they were,” she began.
“A few of the girls laughed about it, and then one of the other players came over and handed my friend and me some bananas, saying, ‘Here, have these.'”
The encounter was not something you’d easily forget and still holds strong in her memory. “Since leaving Montpellier, my friend and I have spoken about that moment a few times. Not receiving flowers was one thing, but as two of only six black girls in the squad, receiving bananas wasn’t something I could laugh off and forget about.”
When racism happens, many discount the psychological toll it takes on its victims, with many left wondering, “Why?”. “Was it an accident? Was it the only thing in the dressing room she could give us? Did she mean well by it?”
The 22-year-old joined the French club in 2020 at just 17. She made 40 appearances at the club before leaving for Manchester City two years later.
Fowler has been a mainstay on the Australian Women’s National Team since 2018, when she joined after just 10 appearances with the Under-20 side.