Lionesses striker Bethany England admits it was a 'big risk' swapping her comfort zone at Chelsea for pastures new at Tottenham in January - but it was a risk she needed to take.
The 29-year-old was part of Sarina Wiegman's EURO winning squad last summer but opportunities were becoming increasingly hard to come by at club level under Emma Hayes. The forward's lack of playing time was impacting her place in the England set-up and she wasn't named in Wiegman's squads for the October or November internationals.
By January, her hopes of making the World Cup had all but vanished, unless she was able to make some significant changes. In a bid to boost her chances, England completed a shock move to London rivals Tottenham at the beginning of the transfer window, with the £250,000 fee Spurs paid for her, a British record for a player in the women's game.
READ MORE: Arsenal announce the departure of Japan international Mana Iwabuchi
READ MORE: Millie Bright named in Lionesses World Cup squad as Chelsea defender to take on captain's armband
"Anything is a risk in football," England told the media earlier this week as the Lionesses began their pre-World Cup training camp at St George's Park. "The situation I was in [at Chelsea], I wasn’t getting used, I was stuck on the bench and as Sarina said, rightly, I wasn’t getting picked [for England] because I wasn’t getting minutes.
"It was up to me to make sure I was, not only getting the minutes but making the minutes count and I think I did that at Spurs and I can’t thank them enough for giving me the opportunity to go out and play and be happy again.
"Obviously at the back of my mind the World Cup was creeping up, I’d not been selected for a couple of camps leading into Christmas so it was in the back of my mind. Every player wants to be part of these big moments representing your country, going to big tournaments so I think that was definitely a key factor in it but ultimately, I think in myself I knew that I wasn’t happy. I knew that’d I’d been in a situation where it was going on for too long and I needed to make changes.
"Change can be scary and I’ve never dealt well with change but luckily I hit the ground running and I’m just thankful that it turned out well."
England went on to explain even she knew how big the risk was to move to a struggling Spurs: "It was a big risk, I’d been at Chelsea for seven years, that was a big part of my professional career and I didn’t really like the thought of change and it all happened so quickly. It wasn’t until a couple of months in that it actually hit me what was going on but ultimately I did not want to be sat in a position where I didn’t try and give my everything to go.
"I could have stayed at Chelsea, I could have stayed on the bench in my comfort zone but then I’d have been watching other people going out there to Australia when I know that it’s something I would have regretted looking back on. I’m glad the risk paid off and even if it didn’t pay off and I didn’t come, I could have at least looked at myself in the mirror knowing I did everything I could to put myself on that flight."
Despite Tottenham's precarious position in the Women's Super League table, as they were staring down the barrel of relegation, England played a significant role in securing their survival in the second half of the season. She scored 13 goals across 11 games for the Lilywhites since completing the switch and her performances prompted a deserved recall to the Lionesses squad ahead of the World Cup.
"It was amazing for me," the striker added, speaking on the moment she found out the news. "I think I’d done everything I could to get put in this position. I worked as best as I could so the question was just left to Sarina. I tried to play it nice and cool but I hung up the phone and screamed my house down.
"The first thing I did was ring my mum and my partner. Obviously I was elated, it’s been a long time since I’ve been back in this environment so it’s just a pleasure to be back here wearing the badge and I’m just excited for the summer."
