Meet the Lioness cubs: England's little girls who fought to play football

From little cubs to fierce Lionesses these are the youngsters who fought to become England's pride. Ahead of their journey to Zurich, the team have been at boot camp in St George's Park preparing for the European Championship next week.

And as boss Sarina Wiegman put the finishing touches to her side, she surprised them with a gifted shirt from each of their grassroots clubs. The England Women's manager said: "I often say to the squad ‘go back to that young girl who first started playing football, think about the happiness those days provided you’. All of the players have had a different journey but their love for the sport will have started at their first club.

"For them to wear the shirt of their first ever club and to have many people who were key to their development at training is really special.” But while the players share an unwavering love for the game, it has been no walk-in-the-park getting to where they are now.

From bag-packing to raise money to play, getting banned from boys' teams or sacrificing their prom night, each Lioness has a story about a little girl's determination to play football. Before her red jersey bore an Arsenal shield captain Leah Williamson, 28, wore the crest of Scots Youth FC, the junior club of Bletchley, Milton Keynes.

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Recalling her tough year-long stint there, Williamson, then just six, recalls how her mum made her wear a gum shield in case she was attacked for being the best player on the all-boys side. She said: “I was the only girl in the team and I used to get abuse from the sidelines every week.

“My mum made me wear a gum shield to protect my teeth because everybody wanted to kick lumps out of me, but it didn’t put me off. You couldn’t get me out of my football kit. I absolutely loved it. “That year at Scot Youth made me a stronger person, 100 per cent.

“I knew some people were getting angry on the sidelines that a girl was the best player on the pitch, but for me what was better than matching their aggression was winning the game. “And that’s something I’ve remembered throughout my career. If you’re good enough then you just need to let the football do the talking.”

Born with strabismus, a condition which causes misaligned eyes and can affect depth perception, doctors told Hampton she would never have a career in football. But as she embarks on her first international tournament as England's No1 goalie, the Birmingham-born 24-year-old says she has spent her life 'proving people wrong'.

She said: "I think I’ve always gone through life trying to prove people wrong. I was told from a young age that I couldn’t play football, that it wouldn’t be a profession I could pursue - the doctors told my parents that. "I’m here right now... I think I can say that I’ve proved people wrong."

It's a mission the Chelsea player is determined to keep up throughout the Euros - as many fans had assumed Golden Glove winner Mary Earps would Wiegman's the first choice in goal. Hampton said: “I’m going to be trying my absolute best to fill the gloves of the keepers (who came) before and the success they’ve had. I think like everyone here, they’ve had ups and downs in their careers.

She added: “Did I think, when I was a young girl, I’d be sitting here right now in the position I am? Absolutely not.
"But am I proud and... I think it’s going to be a summer of very exciting football."

Beaming at the camera underneath a perfect fringe in a bright green and yellow jersey, little Lauren Hemp was a proud player at Norwich City Girls’ Centre of Excellence. But she would soon have to boot up with the boys at North Walsham when the girls' centre was closed down.

"I did think ‘what am I going to do? Where am I going to go? I’m going to have to go back to playing with the boys’ team’," she recalled. But Hemp added: "In the end it shaped me to the player I am."

Up north, Lucy Bronze was facing her own struggle to keep playing with the boys at Alnwick Town Juniors. FA rules in the early noughties stated girls could not play for boys' teams beyond the age 12 due to risk of injury. But defiant Bronzey soon found a new team 50 minutes away in Blyth, Northumberland.

To this day several Lionesses still credit their parents for driving them miles to games while working multiple jobs. When Georgia Stanway had to leave Furness Rovers boys in her hometown of Barrow-in-Furness, the closest girls' team was two hours down the M6.

Stanway, 26 said: "At the age of 12 or 13, girls and boys were no longer allowed to play with each other. I took a year out of football, and participated in every other sport I could. But I just knew that my love was for football so I pestered my parents to take me down to the nearest centre of excellence, which was Blackburn Rovers.

It was two hours there, two hours back, three times a week, so it was a massive commitment. "Considering both my parents worked full-time... They were getting out of work as quickly as they could to take me down the M6 motorway and even things like fuel costs, because it's not cheap.

"That's kind of how I ended up being who I am now. I’m forever grateful for what they’ve done. Every single time I got out of the car, whether it was at training or at home, I made sure I said thank you." The Lionesses will play their first match in the Switzerland tournament on Saturday July 5 against France.

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