LOUD, obnoxious and crass.

That's how the wives and girlfriends (Wags for short) of English Premier League players are often portrayed.

But they're really insecure and lonely people, freelance writer and journalist Alison Kervin told The New Paper on Sunday.

Ms Kervin, 40, is a former chief sports interviewer for the Daily Telegraph newspaper in the UK.

Having spent a lot of time with Wags, she decided to write three novels about these women.

Though her books are works of fiction, Ms Kervin says much of what she writes is based on fact. And it's a sad picture that emerges.

For example, one of her Wag friends, she says, drinks as little alcohol as possible when she and her husband are out, for fear that a trip to the toilet will leave her man susceptible to predatory young women waiting to throw themselves at him.

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