Alessia Russo’s unlikely link to the boys of 1966! How the future Lioness met World Cup winner George Cohen when she raced his granddaughter as a middle distance runner
Alessia Russo’s Unlikely Link to the Boys of 1966! How the future Lioness World Cup winner met George Cohen when she raced against his granddaughter as a middle distance runner
- As a pre-teen, Russo competed with Ellie at the Tonbridge Athletic Club
- The star striker met the World Cup winner at a meeting years before her final
- WATCH: Wiegman CANNOT remember Lauren Jamessays Chris Sutton of Mail Sport
In a small market town in Kent lies an unlikely link between England’s 1966 World Cup heroes and the Lionesses who could match their achievement on Sunday.
Until the age of 15, the star English striker Alessia Russo competed for Tonbridge Athletic Club alongside Ellie Cohen – granddaughter of George, a member of Sir Alf Ramsey’s world champions.
George regularly attended track meetings to support Ellie and was introduced to Alessia, not realizing that she could become a World Cup winner herself.
“Everyone admired George and wanted to talk to him,” says his daughter-in-law, Helen Cohen, who also coached Alessia at Tonbridge.
‘At an event, Alessia’s father Mario came by and asked if we could introduce her to George. It’s wonderful to look back now and remember when they met.
Alessio Russo (right) sets the pace with Ellie Cohen while running for their club in Tonbridge in 2011
Russo’s childhood friend was the daughter of World Cup winner George Cohen, whom she met at one of their athletic meetings
The star is about to play her own World Cup final – with hopes of a similar result
George Cohen was immensely proud of what Alessia has achieved. At last year’s European Championships, he managed to get a message through the FA to the lionesses saying ‘Rooting for you, from a very old lion!’
A man with one club at Fulham, George was rated among England’s best right-backs. He passed away last December at the age of 83. His granddaughter ran with Alessia at Tonbridge between 2010 and 2014, before Russo left to devote himself to football.
“They were in the middle distance group I trained,” says Helen. ‘It clicked right away. We ate athletics in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter. Many girls wouldn’t want all the mud that comes with field training, but they loved getting stuck in it.
‘Alessia was a real sporty all-rounder. She would play soccer on Saturday, but if we needed her for track and field on Sunday, she would be ready.
“Alessia would try any event if we needed her to get points for the team: high jump, long jump, even a race walk once. You can see her speed watching the World Cup. The loss of athletics is the gain of football.’
As friends, Alessia and Ellie shared sleepovers and barbecued together. Ellie Cohen is about to start her senior year of college and is staying active by doing triathlons and half marathons. Today she is on vacation in Finland, hoping to find a TV set so she can watch her old friend become a World Cup winner.
Cohen (right, in 2014) sent Russo his best wishes at last year’s European Championship from ‘a very old lion!’
The England international and one-club Fulham player passed away in December 2022
Russo scored the match winner in England’s clash with Australia to set up the historic final
The Cohen family hopes their association with Sydney’s Stadium Australia will also bring good luck to the Lionesses.
In 2003, George’s cousin Ben helped England win the Rugby Union World Cup at the same stadium, with George and his son, Tony, Ellie’s father, at the game.
After seeing Russo score in the quarter-final and semi-final, everyone in the Tonbridge and Cohen household is hoping for the ultimate hat-trick in the final against Spain today.
It would be a great achievement if the Lionesses win. I know George would be immensely proud that the little girl he met all those years ago would become a World Cup winner just like him,” says Helen Cohen.