Bethany England: The Lionesses’ overlooked attacking threat in profile

Striker made an iron-clad case for her inclusion in Sarina Wiegman ‘s World Cup squad after she joined Tottenham Hotspur in January and scored a remarkable 12 goals in 12 games, including a brace in the penultimate game of the season against Reading to save Spurs from relegation. She was part of the Wiegman’s Euros squad but did not feature and appears to be behind the likes of Alessia Russo and Rachel Daly in Wiegman’s thinking, having been frozen out of several recent international camps and left on the bench as an unused substitute in the side’s recent pre-tournament friendlies. But England, 29, has scored goals throughout her career wherever she has played, a journey that began as a schoolgirl with Junior Tykes in her native Barnsley, where her performances saw her picked up by Sheffield United’s academy at 13 alongside her twin sister Laura. From there she moved to Doncaster Rovers Belles where she played alongside fellow Lionesses Mary Earps and Millie Bright and scored 28 in 79 games between 2011 and 2015, form that earned her a move to Chelsea. She scored 45 in 99 matches for the West London side between 2016 and 2023, also notching up another 10 in 16 during a season-long loan to Liverpool in 2017/18. As was the case with Jordan Nobbs ‘s recent move to Aston Villa, England’s transfer to Spurs has since breathed new life into her game at just the right time. Despite the stop-start nature of her career at international level, England scored nine goals for the Lionesses at youth level and has still netted 11 more in 21 as a senior. Her form this season means she more than deserves to be in contention for a place now that Ellen White has hung up her boots, but unseating Russo and Daley will prove a tall order.