Demi Stokes is one of the more experienced members of the England Lionesses squad. She is also known for being one of the strongest players, and would have been delighted to muscle her way into Sarina Wiegman squad for the 2022 Euros.
Having failed to make it off the substitute’s bench in England’s opening two wins against Austria and Norway, Stokes will hope to make an outing in the Lionesses’ final group match against Northern Ireland on Friday, with England already through to the knockout stages. Going into the tournament, Stokes has had to adjust to life as a mother after welcoming a new member to her family.
She duly hailed the authenticity of women’s football that allowed her to speak freely about her personal and family life. The 30-year-old’s journey to the peak of women’s football has been far from ordinary, having opted to undertake an American scholarship while compatriots made their mark in the FA Women’s Super League.
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Demi Stokes’ journey into football
Born in Dudley in the Midlands, Demi Stokes moved to the north-east when she was just three-years-old. During her time in Newcastle, where she stayed until her late teens, Stokes truly learned the game of football and carefully honed her skills, after first discovering the sport at Marine Park Primary School.
She used to hang around the boys in the playground and would join in when they started playing football. When she turned out for a girl’s team, none of her teammates really liked football so the teacher would often tell them: “just pass it to Demi”.
She was also the captain of the boy’s team while outside of school, she would meet up with the local kids from the estate and play until dark. Eventually she joined her first team, Sunderland 24-7, which was an all-girls team placed in an all-boys league.
After joining the Sunderland academy at the age of eight, she began playing for the first-team at 16.
Demi Stokes’ footballing career
At Sunderland, she was part of the team which won the 2008–09 FA Women's Premier League Northern Division and lost the 2009 FA Women's Cup final to Arsenal, where she played alongside fellow future England stars Lucy Bronze and Jordan Nobbs. She always wanted to play in America, inspired by the likes of Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey, and duly accepted a four-year scholarship to the University of South Florida in 2011, when she was 19.
Here, she gained the experience of what it’s like to be a professional athlete, training every day and playing twice a week. During her time across the Atlantic, Stokes played 13 times for Vancouver Whitecaps in the pro-am North American W-League before continuing her career with her college side.
Stokes was also making an impression on the international stage, having lifted the 2009 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship as well as captaining Great Britain to a gold medal in the 2013 Summer Universiade. Once her scholarship was over, in January 2015, Stokes signed a three-year professional contract with Manchester City.
In over 150 outings, Stokes has been integral to City’s recent success, helping her side to seven trophies - three Women’s FA Cups, three Continental League Cups and one Women’s Super League. Individual recognition came in the form of being named in two PFA WSL Teams of the Year, in 2018 and 2019.
She then penned a new deal in March 2021, before representing Team GB at the Tokyo Olympic Games. As for her international career, Stokes made her England debut in her final year across the pond in a 1-1 draw with Norway.
Her only England goal to date came in a 9-0 thrashing of Montenegro just three months later. Although she was overlooked for the 2015 World Cup, Stokes duly earned her place on the plane for Euro 2017, where the Lionesses reached the semi-finals, as well as the 2019 World Cup, playing in their quarter-final victory against Norway.
Just a couple of months ago, Stokes became a mother for the first time as she welcomed baby Harlen alongside partner Katie.
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