By Catherine MacKenzie (19/05/2025)
Above: Madison Hadley at Wembley. Photo: The FA.
Madison Hadley is the 2024-25 FA Cup Golden Ball winner, scoring 11 goals in four games. Before being presented with the trophy at Wembley, she spoke to Impetus’ Catherine MacKenzie and other journalists.
Hadley is at Wembley Stadium in London ahead of the Women’s FA Cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea. The twenty-four-year-old Preston North End player will be presented the 2025 golden ball – the trophy handed to the tournament’s top goal scorer – by legendary ex-England boss and two-time FA Cup winner Hope Powell.
The award is sponsored by Mitre, who are the original sponsor of the competition on its formation in 1971, presenting an opportunity to shine a light on those teams and players who make up the early rounds of the competition. It is rare that a club from below England’s top two tiers will make it to the later stages of the competiton, meaning lower-league teams get significantly less media coverage and attract smaller fanbases.
Including the qualifying and early rounds of the competition in the Golden Ball race means those players and clubs can get the attention they deserve.
Hadley made the trip to Wembley from Lancashire, where she works full time as an activities co-ordinator for a care home. She plays her football for Preston North End in England’s sixth tier. A world away from the United and Chelsea teams who will face off in London, Preston’s women play their games at Inglewhite Road, the home of Longridge Town FC men, who play in the ninth tier of English men’s football.
Walking onto the pitch at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium will be a different experience. Speaking to Hadley, it is clear that being at Wembley – the heart of English football – to be presented with a trophy, is a moment that she will cherish:
“It’s crazy being here today. It’s really kind of like, I can feel it now. I have my suit on. It’s crazy because I’ve never dreamt of this.”
The striker, like many in the world of women’s football, grew up playing football with the boys at school. The boys all played for school teams, but Hadley continued playing with them when she could:
“I was about seven, I grew up playing with the boys at school. They all played for teams, and I thought I’d join in with them, that’s how it started.”
Hadley is from Lancashire, a region of England’s north that has been vital in the development of English women’s football. Its significance comes from strong local football traditions and the local teams that have helped shape the sport.
For example, the Dick, Kerr Ladies were founded in Hadley’s hometown of Preston; pioneers of women’s football, they played their first match on Christmas Day, 1917 in front of 10,000 spectators; eventually drawing crowds of over 50,000.
Founded during the first world war by women working at the Dick, Kerr & Co. munitions factory in Preston, the women were producing ammunition for the war and playing football during break times. In 1920, they became the first women’s team to play an international match, facing a French team in a series of games in both France and England.
They continued to play in the face of the FA’s 1921 ban on women’s football – using non-FA pitches and unofficial methods. Asked about playing football in an area of such historic significance, Hadley was positive:
“It’s getting better and better, with women’s football growing and growing. You can see it in our league and in our team as far as well like with the funds, we’re getting the young girls that are coming as far as to be like this. So it’s nice.”
Before ending our conversation – Hadley wanted to catch up with her mother and make sure she had a good seat – I asked about her favourite current players:
“I love Lauren James. I think she’s just such a good player, like it just looks easy when she plays. The likes of Ella Toone, so we’ve got Arsenal like Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly, all those sorts of players.”
Even if the team from nearby Manchester did not take the trophy back up north, the Golden Ball did make its way to the region – a trophy the players Hadley mentioned above would love to get their own hands on someday.
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