“I never thought women’s football would be like this,” Sue Whyatt, a goalkeeper in England’s first official Lionesses squad of 1972, said. “In my day, football was never going to be a proper career because we had to pay our own way … I’ve never got a shirt or anything”.
Watching the World Cup final at London’s Boxpark Wembley with some of the original squad, Whyatt had nothing but adoration for the Lionesses, particularly goalkeeper Mary Earps, who she described as “incredibly humble”. “I can’t help ducking and diving when the ball is near the goal,” she said, chuckling. “Football is a professional career now. Those players are athletes … It’s wonderful.”
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