‘We can’t form teams fast enough!’ England star Ella Toone’s old club say girl’s football has become so popular that huge numbers are wanting to join as Lionesses are hailed for ‘inspiring a generation’

‘We can’t form teams fast enough!’ English star Ella Toone’s old club says girls’ football has become so popular that large numbers want to join as lionesses are praised for ‘inspiring a generation’

  • Lorraine Warwick-Ellis said the surge in popularity among girls was “amazing.”

Girls’ football has become so popular at Lioness Ella Toone’s old club that they ‘can’t form teams fast enough’.

Lorraine Warwick-Ellis, from Astley and Tyldesley Community Football Club where Toone used to play, told the BBC about the impact of England’s success on wider communities.

She said: ‘(Women’s football) wasn’t televised for a long time, which was a shame. Now that we’re on TV, we’re visual and the girls can see it, they can be it.

“It’s great to see all these young girls coming down now. It’s like we can’t form teams for them fast enough. It is awesome.’

Toone’s former PE teacher Chris Nuttall said she was a “dream” student because she involved other students.

Ella Toone, previously pictured out for a walk with her England teammates, was described as a ‘dream’ pupil to get other girls involved in football

Lorraine Warwick-Ellis, from Astley and Tyldesley Community Football Club where Toone used to play, told the BBC about the impact England’s success had on wider communities

The PE teacher at Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley told the BBC: ‘The good thing for us is that Ella is still coming back to school. She is very supportive.

“And I think if the girls also see Ella in the school when she comes in, it’s been huge for them.

“We now have girls teams in every year group. A lot of girls are very interested and we were just chatting at the time about how many of the students who come in and want to be part of the girls’ team, and that’s largely due to Ella and her achievements.’

Toone and her teammates were seen leaving their hotel this morning as the countdown to their historic World Cup final began.

The players stepped out of the Intercontinental in Sydney this morning in their light blue tracksuits for the meeting with Spain, England’s first World Cup final since 1966.

Supporters young and old gathered outside the hotel and cheered as their heroes boarded a maroon bus, labeled ‘The Final’ in gold letters, to take them to Stadium Australia.

The bus was escorted by police for its journey through the city, which was to take about half an hour.

Earlier in the day, Sarina Wiegman’s team was spotted out for a walk in the Sydney sunshine – a tradition many teams enjoy before a big game.

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