By Christian Tobin

Published: Thursday, 28 July 2022 at 12:00 am

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Football Commentator Adam Summerton has covered women’s football since 2015 for the likes of BT Sport and DAZN – he also has two daughters, both of whom play at grassroots level.

As the surge in popularity of women’s football continues, we take an in-depth look at the Lionesses and their individual journeys to the top of the game.

It is littered with stories of sacrifice, hard work and success in the face of adversity – from the multiple UEFA Women’s Champions League winner who worked part-time in a pizza delivery store while starting out, to the highly-rated winger driven on by her sister’s career-ending injury.

Ahead of England v Germany in the Women’s Euro 2022 final, read on to find out more about the squad hoping to lift the trophy and go down in history this Sunday (31st July).

Read more: England’s Lionesses are on the brink of a triumph decades in the making

Goalkeepers

Mary Earps

Manchester United – 29 years old

One of the biggest beneficiaries of Sarina Wiegman’s appointment, she has been promoted to first choice goalkeeper under the Dutch coach, having previously struggled for consistent game time with the Lionesses since her first senior cap in 2017.

Mary has played for five different clubs in the WSL, as well as German side Wolfsburg – not easily ruffled, she describes pressure as a “privilege”, and has a degree in Information Management and Business Studies from Loughborough University.

Ellie Roebuck

Manchester City – 22 years old

Ellie lists Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon and former Manchester United stopper Peter Schmeichel among her biggest inspirations.

Highly rated from a very young age, she sat her GCSE Biology exam in the British Embassy in Minsk, Belarus while at the U17 European Championship with England in 2016. Her Euro 2022 preparations weren’t helped by a calf injury that restricted her to just 10 WSL appearances in the 2021/22 season.

Hannah Hampton

Aston Villa – 21 years old

Hannah is a graduate of the famously productive Birmingham City youth system, but swapped the Blues for local rivals Aston Villa in the summer of 2021.

As a child, she lived in Spain for around five years, spending time with Villarreal after going to her trial there in a West Brom kit – she actually started out as a centre-forward but began her goalkeeping career at U11 level after volunteering to replace an injured teammate in goal.

Defenders

Lucy Bronze

Barcelona – 30 years old

Her full title is Lucy Roberta Tough Bronze, and she is one of the most respected and decorated players of her generation.

Voted The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2020 – Lucy has also won both the WSL and the UEFA Women’s Champions League three times, not to mention a whole host of other major team and individual honours.

She worked part-time in a pizza shop while starting out with Everton, admits she “sometimes hates losing more than [she] loves winning” and has declared coaching England a future ambition of hers. Lucy left Manchester City for a second time shortly before Euro 2022 to move to Spanish champions Barcelona.

Jess Carter

Chelsea – 24 years old

Jess has dual UK/USA nationality due to her dad being American – another graduate of Birmingham City’s academy, she also played rugby for Worcester Warriors as a child.

Having made her senior debut for the Blues in a UEFA Women’s Champions League Quarter-Final against Arsenal in 2014 at the age of 16, she went on to sign for Chelsea in 2018. The footballer she most admired growing up was Paul Scholes, and she describes Justin Bieber’s music as her ‘guilty pleasure’.

Alex Greenwood

Manchester City – 28 years old

Alex is a real rarity in that she has played for Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton – something only former England international Peter Beardsley has in common with her.

Able to play at both left back and in central defence she made her international debut in 2014 and has been a mainstay of the squad under the management of Sarina Wiegman.

Demi Stokes

Manchester City – 30 years old

Demi started her career with Sunderland and played club football in both the USA and Canada before signing for Manchester City in 2015, where she has gone on to win seven major trophies.

She lists her cross-sport inspirations as Jessica Ennis-Hill, Dina Asher-Smith and Nicola Adams – notoriously humble, she has always kept in touch with her former primary school teacher, Ian Williamson, who put her name down for trials with her first junior team.

Leah Williamson

Arsenal – 25 years old

The skipper – Leah was appointed permanent England captain in April 2022, succeeding the hugely influential Steph Houghton in the role.

She grew up an Arsenal fan, attending men’s games with her Grandma, and signed for the Gunners herself at the age of nine in 2006. She credits Thierry Henry with making her ‘fall in love’ with football and had a signed photo of another Arsenal legend, Kelly Smith, on her bedroom wall as a kid – on it were written the words “dream big”. In her spare time, Leah plays Sudoku and studies accountancy.

Millie Bright

Chelsea – 28 years old

Millie overcame severe asthma and whooping cough as a child, and then worked part-time as a horse-groom and a fitness instructor while playing for her first club, Doncaster Belles.

She has always admired former England international John Terry and signed for his club Chelsea in 2015 where she has gone from strength to strength, winning numerous honours and being named in the FIFA Best XI in 2020 and 2021. She was made England’s vice-captain in April 2022.

Lotte Wubben-Moy

Arsenal – 23 years old

Like her club teammate and good friend Leah Williamson, Lotte is an Arsenal fan who has gone on to play for the club – in fact she’s from a family of Gunners, her auntie sang club chants to her rather than lullabies when she was a baby.

Lotte is a graduate of North Carolina University, something she has in common with England head coach Sarina Wiegman

Rachel Daly

Houston Dash – 30 years old

Born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, Rachel began her career at nearby Leeds United but has spent most of her senior career in the USA, where she currently plays in the NWSL.

Extremely versatile, she’s able to play in several different positions and has often been used at full-back by Sarina Wiegman – she’s played a lot of games up front for Houston Dash where she is captain and all-time top-scorer.

Midfielders

Keira Walsh

Manchester City – 25 years old

Keira is described by her England teammate Jill Scott as the “best holding midfielder in the world” when it comes to “vision and intelligence” – her former Manchester City manager Nick Cushing once said she had the “best football brain” of any player he’d coached.

Born in Rochdale, Keira grew up supporting City and loved the club so much she named her two pet goldfish Nicolas Anelka and Shaun Goater.

Ella Toone

Manchester United – 22 years old

Ella grew up supporting her current club, Manchester United, but has also played for Manchester City – a talented all-round athlete she won several gymnastic awards as a child, and showed promise in tennis, but eventually decided to pursue a career in football.

Known by fans and teammates alike as ‘Tooney’, she scored on her England debut, a 6-0 win over Northern Ireland in February 2021.

Jill Scott

Free agent – 35 years old

A Lionesses legend, Jill made her England debut in 2006 and Euro 2022 is her 10th major tournament.

A talented long-distance runner as a child she was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Year Honours – already a UEFA ‘B’ licence holder, she has future coaching ambitions and has the words ‘step by step, day by day, mile by mile’ tattooed on her wrist, lyrics from a Whitney Houston song.

Georgia Stanway

Bayern Munich – 23 years old

Georgia spent the first seven years of her senior career with Manchester City where she won seven major honours, before deciding to leave for Bayern ahead of Euro 2022.

The subject of a giant mural in Manchester’s Northern Quarter in 2020, Georgia was brought up in Barrow-in-Furness but began her career with Blackburn Rovers – commenting on her eagerness to learn, former City teammate and USA legend Carli Lloyd once described her as being ‘like a sponge’.

Nikita Parris

Arsenal – 28 years old

A UEFA Women’s Champions League winner with former club Lyon in 2019/20, Nikita started her own football team at the age of 11 in her native Liverpool, as she wanted a women’s side in the local community.

FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year in 2019, she held the honour of WSL all-time leading scorer between 2018 and 2020.

Beth Mead

Arsenal – 27 years old

Beth’s mum worked two jobs to be able to afford the fuel to take her back-and-forth to training with Middlesbrough as a child – she then worked part-time herself washing dishes in a pub while starting out in senior football with Sunderland.

Most inspired by Arsenal legends Kelly Smith and Thierry Henry, she has a degree in Sports Development. Famously and controversially left out of Team GB’s Tokyo Olympics squad, Beth reacted superbly to play a starring role at Euro 2022.

Fran Kirby

Chelsea – 29 years old

Fran has fought against personal adversity to establish herself as one of the world’s top female forwards – having lost her Mum, Denise, to a sudden brain haemorrhage when she was just 14, Fran then recovered from a career threatening heart condition during the 2019/20 season.

Twice named the PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year, she was nicknamed ‘mini-Messi’ as a youngster at Reading, and she is now Chelsea’s all-time leading scorer.

Forwards

Ellen White

Manchester City – 33 years old

England Women’s all-time top-scorer, a record she’s held since November 2021 – Ellen started as she meant go on with a goal on her debut in March 2010.

She has been named England Women’s Player of the Year three times, most recently in 20/21 – as a child she trained at a football academy in Aylesbury run by her dad Jon called Mini Ducks.

Beth England

Chelsea – 28 years old

While starting out in the WSL with Doncaster Belles in 2011, Beth was also working part-time in a chip shop – by 2019/20 she had won the PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year award as a Chelsea player.

Euro 2022 was her first major tournament as a senior England player – off the pitch she has studied law and is a keen dog-lover.

Lauren Hemp

Manchester City – 21 years old

Like her older sister, Amy, Lauren started out with Norwich City – but while she has gone on to represent England, her sibling’s career was cut short by knee injuries, something Lauren says acts as a constant source of motivation.

Lauren has been named PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year four times, making her the most decorated PFA award winner of all time, and the first player to win four awards in the same category.

Chloe Kelly

Manchester City – 24 years old

Born in London, Chloe started out with Arsenal, but truly established herself in the WSL with Everton, before signing for Manchester City in 2020.

Voted as City’s Player of the Year by their supporters in 20/21, she suffered a serious knee injury in May 2021 and spent nearly a year out before returning and scoring her first England goal in a 3-0 win over Belgium shortly before Euro 2022.

Alessia Russo

Manchester United – 23 years old

Alessia spent time with Charlton and Chelsea as a youngster, then studied at North Carolina University in the USA before returning to the UK in 2020 to join Manchester United.

Alessia is of Italian descent – her Sicilian grandfather moved to England in the 1950s, her dad Mario played non-league football – her best friend is fellow club and international England teammate Ella Toone.

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