by Aimee Logan at St. George’s Park for Impetus (30/11/23).
Above: Beth Mead speaking to the media at St. George’s Park. Photo: Madeleine Blount for Impetus.
Significantly, this November camp has Beth Mead return to Sarina Wiegman’s squad. Mead has been impressing with Arsenal, scoring two superb goals against West Ham United in the process.
Mead explained what the journey back into the squad has been like after her ACL injury. ‘’It’s been a year since I was here, so I’ve worked hard, I’ve had a lot of tough days between that time.’’ A significant period that she missed because of her rehabilitation was the World Cup in the summer.
The Arsenal star notes that ‘’you never take it for granted’’ when getting called up for the international squad because of how fast things can change in such little time. Mead also reflected on her journey over the challenging past year by saying, ‘’I’m proud of what I’ve overcome in that time’’ and believes her call up came from ‘’feeling more confident, more like myself again’’.
Mead will be looking to take to England’s biggest stage on Friday night as she hopes to make a big comeback for the Lionesses against the Netherlands. Two must-win games, could Mead be the answer to all the problems?
Lionesses star Lucy Bronze joined Culture Secretary Lucy Fraser in the announcement of the government’s £25 million investment, along with £5 million from the FA, into women and girls’ grassroots football. The funding comes off the back of the Lionesses’ success in the 2022 Euros and this year’s World Cup.
Fraser emphasised what she is aiming to see as a result of the £30 million investment. ‘’We want to see the next Mary Earps, the next Leah Williamson’’ but she also emphasised the aim of ‘’empowering the future generation. It’s not just about the money, it’s about delivering…our ambition is to get three and a half million more people involved in sport, the people we are targeting are people who are in underrepresented groups.’’
The CEO of the Football Association (FA), Mark Bullingham spoke of the need to ‘’identify where the need for the facilities is greatest.’’ and build the facilities ‘’as quickly as possible so women and girls can get out there and use them’’. Bullingham also emphasised that they want to ‘’maximise the usage, maximise the diversity of the usage’’ so ‘’when we choose where we are putting these facilities, we absolutely look at who of the underrepresented groups will be benefiting from this’’.
The joint investment is targeted to grassroots football, significantly clubs who are going to ‘’show us why they [girls] are going to get the first choice of playing slots’’. The culture secretary emphasised how she is invested in increasing girls’ access to sport from a young age: ‘’They’ve already been inspired by the Lionesses, and we just want to ensure they have the facilities to fulfill their ambition. The next step is the £30 million investment into priority access for women and girls.’’
Commenting on the increased funding, Lionesses star Lucy Bronze emphasised how important it is to not just do their job in the moment, they also need to inspire the next generation of Lionesses ready to fill their boots. ‘’We do care about the legacy that we leave and the game that we all love so much.”
Bronze also mentioned the lack of access she had as a girl, ‘’A lot of us as players have had that issue of prioritising the adults’ team or the boy’s team’’, so this new government investment would mean that ‘’they don’t have to go through them journeys and that little bit of hardship like we had to.’’
‘’The growth of the game and the fact we have been so successful as a team has given us a voice and a platform… we want to use that for good’’: Bronze highlighted the whole team’s ambition to leave a legacy in the women’s game, ‘’to know we can make a difference to so many people is amazing.’’
Looking at the bigger picture, Bronze explained how the investment is ‘’giving the woman and girls who have access back their respect and the feeling of confidence that people do care about them.’’ The England team has ‘’a lot of pride to know that we are role models on the pitch’’, she explained. Ultimately, Bronze hopes the £30 million will ‘’be able to give more women and girls that access to live out of a dream that we live out… that they have the opportunity to do that is so important to us’’.
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