England Lionesses' Barnsley-born star Bethany England on women's game, tournament hopes and moving on completely from 'dinosaur era'

She is the local lass turned good on the football front. Someone who has represented her country at major tournaments and is also the captain of a WSL side, in her case Tottenham Hotspur.

England is one of the pre-eminent sporting heroes in her hometown of Barnsley - alongside the likes of John Stones - and her story is a wholesome one.

From first kicking a ball around in the street with twin sister Laura to excelling in junior football with Junior Tykes and eventually moving onto Doncaster Belles via Sheffield United girls' centre of excellence ahead of making it in the big time with Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and also England Lionesses.

The game at grassroots level has come a long way since she first started out. Earlier this year, data from the BBC showed that girls' football at every age level has increased in England over the last seven years.

The largest increase in female football teams was in 2022-23 - the season after the Lionesses won Euro 2022 - when almost 1,500 new teams registered.

There’s plenty to be proud of. But there’s more work to do, equally.

Middlesbrough-based Thornaby FC recently came under fire after announcing plans to its committee voted to remove its entire female section – from the under sevens to the first team – leaving more than 100 players without a club.

It sparked widespread condemnation from leading figures in the women’s game including Lionesses players Beth Mead - from nearby Whitby - and England.

An about-turn saw the club subsequently announce plans to reinstate its women’s team due to the public backlash.

It was a welcome development, but still a reminder while women’s football has progressed inexorably far over the past decade or so, the fight to fully establish itself is an ongoing one.

On the initial news, England told The Yorkshire Post: “It was very devastating after such a huge step, not just for women, but young girls in sport. We’d come so far since the Euros.

"To see that happen; it was not just even one of the teams, but the entire women’s side... There were obviously repercussions from that with six board members stepping down and it still can feel like we are still in a bit of a ‘dinosaur era’ where we are still second-best to male counterparts and that’s not the case.

"What I loved is how quickly the football community gathered around it and even the boys side came out and openly said: ‘This is not what we want, we don’t agree with this.’

"The football community has rallied together to hopefully bring the girls team back to where it needs to be.

"That’s the case for all things in life. When you are fed up of being put down in life and people finally speak up, change can happen.”

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Capped 26 times by her country at senior level, England is at the peak of her profession and in her prime, having just turned 30.

England, an ex-WSL Player of the Season in 2019-20, was part of the Lionesses squad that won Euro 2022 and reached the World Cup finals last summer.

She led Spurs to the FA Cup final in May - they lost in their maiden finals appearance in front of a Wembley crowd of 76,000 - after a strong finish to the league season.

2024-25 promises to be another big year for club and country with the Lionesses seeking to secure qualification for next summer’s Euro finals in Switzerland - something England would dearly love to be a part of. A bit further down the track are the World Cup finals in Brazil in 2027.

Earlier this month, the Lionesses boosted their chances of Euro qualification by securing a superb 2-1 win over the French in Saint-Etienne, just four days after losing 2-1 to the same opponents at St James' Park.

England continued: “I sometimes have to pinch myself a little bit that I’ve won a Euros, been to a World Cup final and played in a final and led a team out in an FA Cup final.

"It’s not quite what I thought I’d be doing when I was younger, but I am very proud of the journey I have had and what I have achieved in my career with hopefully many more things to come.”

Looking ahead to the Euro finals next year and potentially the World Cup a couple of years later, she said: “That’s something I’d like to look at. But first things first, I need to make sure I am hitting good form again and be right for the club and am leading straight from the off where we can put ourselves in a great position to finish better than last year.

"Whatever happens outside of that, is outside of my control. But if I am performing and scoring, the questions are on other people."

Blurb: Bethany England was speaking at Leeds-based vehicle leasing company ZenAuto, Zenith’s consumer division, to celebrate the company’s Pride Fete.