A lot has changed in women’s football since I was preparing to play in my first World Cup, in 2007. In fact I can’t believe it has been 16 years since I played in China but it was the first time we started to see some change occurring. Two years earlier I had played at Euro 2005 in England where there was very little interest from the media and, in terms of attendance, relatively few spectators.
For China 2007, however, we had our own chef travelling with us for the first time, ensuring we were supported nutritionally, and we stayed at unbelievable hotels, with really amazing facilities. To me at that time it felt like real progress for us as a national team. Remarkably, half of us flew in economy and half of us in business. Then we swapped for the return flight.
We were all kind of joking about that leading into the competition but it just shows the “professionalisation” of that time – it wasn’t quite there yet. Now, obviously, so much goes into travel and to support the players to help them prepare in the best way possible without having to worry about logistics.
At the 2007 World Cup we probably had three journalists that I could name because they were the only press covering the England team. Now, everyone in the media wants to capture the Lionesses, and everyone wants quotes from the players. We didn’t have that.
The reality is we weren’t professional. We trained twice a week with our clubs as amateurs or semi-professionals. We had to train ourselves or in small groups in order to compete at international level. A lot of our team had to fly their families out there and pay for that themselves. Money is now a talking point in the way it wasn’t before. The Lionesses are currently fighting for what they feel would be fair in terms of bonus money. We were fighting the same battles but we weren’t heard. That was the reality at the time.
I didn’t find professionalism playing in the UK at club level so I went to find it. I left England in 2009 to play in the USA and later Sweden, which was professional. It was full-time training every day with your club and players from all over the world at a higher level of competition. It has taken 10 years to get to a point that allows players to enter a World Cup knowing that they are in the best physical state possible.
In terms of the game, I recall playing in the 2011 World Cup in Germany and not expecting to start against Japan. Japan were a top-ranked nation with unbelievable players and, because I thought I would be starting on the bench, I hadn’t necessarily prepared myself mentally to be ready to go. But then our manager, Hope Powell, called me up one evening saying there had been an injury, so I was going to start.
I remember playing in midfield, surrounded by noise and energy in the stadium, and feeling really intense emotions, like this big game was going beyond me. At one point, a Japanese player was about to dribble past me so my teammate Kelly Smith turned around and basically roared at me: “Come on!” It was exactly what I needed in that moment to snap me out of that overwhelming feeling. My teammate’s act completely elevated and transformed my game, and it ended up probably being my best match in that tournament, which we won 2-0.
It’s a different level of pressure putting on an England shirt. Representing your country gives you the opportunity to have an impact on the nation and also the next generation of players. It feels like it’s always your one chance because it’s never guaranteed that you’ll qualify for another major tournament. As an individual you never know when your next cap will be. Ultimately, there is no greater honour than knowing you’re one of the select few who have been trusted to represent your country.
As for my hopes for this World Cup, I hope England win of course! It would be amazing to capitalise on the momentum created from the Euros and win another major trophy as well as continue having an impact on wider social issues. They’ve been great spokespeople for that and have empowered young people to find strength for themselves and find their own voices.
England are noticeably lacking some key players due to what are mainly knee injuries. I’ve had two ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments in my career so completely empathise. Sometimes adversity makes you stronger and the situation could allow other players to step up and take responsibility and opportunities.
This will be a tournament that doesn’t just shine light on the talent and the game itself because there are still so many issues surrounding women in sport. There are continuing concerns going into this competition, so it’s important that those are also discussed.
It is also fantastic that the World Cup is in another part of the world with another global audience, in Australia and New Zealand. I’ve loved watching how both nations have included so much of their indigenous traditions and are bringing that to us as part of the audience to learn about that alongside football, because culture is so intrinsic to so many nations. That’s the beauty of sport: it brings people together and allows us to explore and learn new things.
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