REVEALED: England star who went from serving fish and chips in Barnsley to a World Cup final… as the lioness reveals how much effort she’s put into her football career
An England lioness has spoken of the long road she’s come from a fish and chip shop in Barnsley to the World Cup final.
Sarina Wiegman’s team will meet Spain on Sunday in the first World Cup final of the English women’s team.
Still, it’s a far cry from a star’s early beginnings, where she dished out chips to the locals in the Yorkshire town as she juggled a day job with her football career and completed her A Levels.
After spending four years with Barnsley’s youth team, this England player signed for the girls’ team at Sheffield United before moving to Doncaster Belles aged 16 to become a first-team regular.
Her fledgling football career, however, had to be worked around her 9-5 shifts with cod and chips, sometimes on game days, and with just three hours of sleep before taking her place in front for the Belles.
Bethany England has come a long way from starting her career with Doncaster Belles
England juggled shifts in a fish and chip shop alongside her football career
The England striker secured her World Cup spot after scoring 13 goals for Tottenham
Your browser does not support iframes.
Due to the tough routine, striker Bethany England admitted in a 2020 interview that it was the hard graft that helped her get to where she is today.
“Everybody’s journey is different,” England said.
“I can’t say mine has been easy. It’s just been a long old role, just putting myself out there, trying to prove myself.
‘I’ve always been a graft. My parents raised me to never give up and to be a worker.’
The work has certainly paid off for England, after helping Doncaster to promotion in 2016, she earned a move to WSL side Chelsea.
During her time with the Blues, the Leeuwin would go on to score over 70 goals for the club and win four WSL titles as coach Emma Hayes praised her as the best number nine in the league.
The striker came off the bench and scored in England’s victory over Nigeria on penalties
Chelsea coach Emma Hayes named England the best number nine in the WSL during her seven-year spell with the Blues
Looking for more first-team opportunities ahead of this summer’s World Cup, England moved to Spurs in January for a domestic record fee of £250,000 and her 13 goals helped the club avoid relegation.
That form helped secure her a place in Wiegman’s World Cup squad and England has already played an important role in the team’s run to the final.
The Tottenham Hotspur striker has proven to be a useful weapon for Wiegman, coming off the bench as another attacking option in games against Denmark, China, Nigeria and Colombia.
Keeping her spirits up to take one of the penalties in the Lionesses penalty shootout victory over Nigeria in the last sixteen of the tournament.
Now the striker could move from serving dinner to the locals of Barnsley, to helping serve up England’s first World Cup win since 1966.
(TagsToTranslate)dailypost