On the day the England team reunited last autumn, reflecting on the acclaim that followed their European Championship glory in the summer of their lives, they shared stories of the newfound attention the success had brought.
Beth Mead had just appeared in a photo shoot for a magazine, wearing a Prada sports bra, shorts and designer shoes. Chloe Kelly had modeled a gorgeous red ball gown.
Ella Toone described feeling ‘paparazzed’ eating a pasty outside a bakery in Tyldesley, near Wigan. The room burst into laughter as she said this.
Lotte Wubben-Moy, the central half, had to explain to Wiegman what a pie actually was.
That was really Toone all the way. The person who, often unintentionally, will provide the comedic gold in this squad.
Ella Toone celebrates after giving England the lead in the semi-final of the World Cup
Toone was photographed eating a pasty after last year’s Euro victory – a revelation that sparked a hilarious moment as the victorious group reconvened
The Lionesses star hit a rasping shot into the top corner to stun the Australian crowd
Toone celebrates with her teammates after helping England on their way to a famous 3-1 win
But also the blunt, unglamorous one from a former mill town, whose boyfriend plays for Stalybridge Celtic, in the Northern Premier League Division One West.
That friend, Joe Bunney, was poking around the Rocks area near Sydney Harbor on Thursday morning, hours after Toone sent England to the World Cup final, though for him it wasn’t the high-end places, but a store that sold replica Uggs. boots and then Bakers Oven breakfast place.
If you were to make a comparison to England’s men’s teams of yesteryear, you could say that Toone is this team’s Wayne Rooney – a raw, uncomplicated, working-class player, most at home in Tyldesley, in the Wigan borough, as Rooney was . in Croxteth.
One of her good friend Alessia Russo’s post-European Championship final interviews took place in her brother’s flat, overlooking Tower Bridge. It wouldn’t have been Toone’s natural domain.
She also has the instinct of a street player and plays with different images in her head than others. That showed her volley goal against Australia, with both feet off the ground after sending it with full force.
Her goal against Germany last summer also fell into that category.
When Rooney showed this kind of ability for Everton 20 years ago, Manchester United couldn’t wait to sign him.
‘Tooney’, as she is inevitably known, spent six years in United’s own backyard, scoring goals for the club’s girls’ teams. But they didn’t have a women’s team. The club believed that the entire football focus should be the betterment of the men.
Toone’s raw talent and unpretentious upbringing draws comparisons to Wayne Rooney
So she headed to Blackburn Rovers, where she trained in a remote, spartan place called Blacksnape, 80 feet up in the East Lancashire moors.
Local newspaper reports are full of Toone’s exploits from her five years at Blackburn, including six goals as Rovers beat Rotherham United 19-0.
Toone gets a kiss from friend Joe Bunney after Wednesday’s semi-final victory
She became an England under-19 international, but United, a club whose fortune she lived and breathed, was not an option.
She signed for City before the arrival of a United women’s side finally took her to the fields of Carrington, a stone’s throw from Partington – the unattractive west Manchester district where she occasionally chatted.
There was generally a reaction when the schoolgirl threw Toone or her Blackburn teammate Georgia Stanway onto a windy pitch to play for Rovers.
“They were known to be England youth internationals,” says Gemma Donnelly, who worked with her there. “Other players might have kicked her, but they generally never got a response.”
The 23-year-old is self-deprecating, right down to her jokes about the comment she made after England lifted the trophy last summer: ‘I’m absolutely buzzing!’ — from which sprang hats with those words, sold in a pub in Tyldesley.
An interview she gave here a few weeks ago about how she had “discovered” herself in Australia, reading books like Jamie Vardy’s autobiography and walking the Terrigal beach when she couldn’t sleep was classic Toone: dry, funny stories told to themselves.
“I don’t really read novels, just autobiographies and they have a few pictures, so that helps!” she said.
Toone helped popularize the bucket hat after her heroics in last year’s European Championship triumph
And now that she has helped England reach the final, she is at the center of the biggest decision Wiegman has to make ahead of Sunday’s final.
Whether Toone retains a starting position or makes way for Lauren James in the number 10 role, following her return from suspension.
The robust answer Keira Walsh gave here late Wednesday night when asked about James’ return hinted at a Toone defense that some of this team are.
They seem to think she should not make room for the Chelsea player, whose sacking shattered the calm Wiegman had built around the selection.
“I think people are clearly going to talk about that,” Walsh said of James’s availability. “But I think everyone should give Tooney credit. She’s come back and she’s done an incredible job again.
“People probably won’t talk about it too much, but it’s not easy to get to the quarter-finals or semi-finals when all the spotlight is on the place of the player you’re taking.
Show off chips to open the scoring for England against Germany in the Euro final
Celebrating with Chloe Kelly after England’s 2-1 win at Wembley brought European glory
“I think (to Australia) she was incredible. She tackled, she got stuck, she took us onto the field, she gave us a lot of security. LJ (James) is a huge talent, but I think we should respect Tooney’s name a bit too.’
Toone has not made the impact England expected at this World Cup and Wiegman, who is not a sentimental manager, may opt for James. But there was a balance to Wednesday’s rendering that some managers wouldn’t want to mess with.
Wiegman also knows all too well what impact this player has had before from the bench against Spain.
When England were six minutes from defeat to La Roja in the quarter-final of the European Championship last summer, Toone fired at a ball that Russo had nodded towards the back post.
Those watching from the couch instinctively knew what would happen. “When I watch Tooney run, it’s like my body knows what’s happening before my mind does,” Beth Mead recounted in her autobiography. “The net bulges and Tooney drops to her knees.”
Now the intention is to add the World Cup to last year’s European Championship success
Toone uses pre-match visualization techniques to “manifest” goals, as the sports psychologists call it, although Toone – as Toone – doesn’t take himself very seriously when describing the process.
“I’m quite a big manifestor,” she said in that interview a few weeks ago. “I manifest a lot of things before I play games and half of them never happen.”
Mead also came on as a substitute when Toone scored against Germany in the final. “I see how she follows the flight of the ball and catches it,” writes Mead, who was also substituted in that game.
“With her second touch, from my point of view from the side, I wait for the net to ripple. I see how the ball sinks and ends up in the corner.’
This is exactly why Toone has sharp supporters in the England squad.
The heartbroken Australians settled the cost of her goal.
The country’s Daily Telegraph — renamed the Daily Tillygraph throughout the week because the Matildas are known as “the Tillys” — returned to its usual masthead, reluctantly posting an image of a cheering Toone on its sports pages.
The Australian Daily Telegraph returned to its usual masthead following England’s semi-final victory
If, and when, the moment comes and England makes history, three days from now Toone will probably be looking for nothing but a way to inspire some new lines in hats back in Tyldesley.
After Germany was put to the sword in last summer’s final, she wore a blue, yellow and red one with a propeller on it.
“It was instinctive. I didn’t plan it in advance,’ she said, summing up in those few short words what she brings to England.
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