England return home this week just over a month after the highs and lows of the World Cup. Such is the nature of football that no sooner have you completed one tournament then new challenges await. This time, it’s in the form of the Nations League with a derby against Scotland on Friday providing ample opportunity to brush away the cobwebs and the pain of that Final in Sydney.
The squad is much the same to the one that travelled to Australia. Keira Walsh and Bethany England being ruled out through injury, however, have seen Lucy Staniforth, Maya Le Tissier, and Jess Park return while Lucy Parker was a late call up for Lotte Wubben-Moy.
For two of those, Staniforth and Le Tissier, it was a summer of mixed emotions. Despite the disappointment of not making the 23, they linked up with the Lionesses on the standby list. They travelled to Australia with the group for the full preparation camp before leaving at the start of the tournament.
For Le Tissier, at the start of her international career, it was a “bittersweet” experience. “I really enjoyed my experience out there,” she says. “It’s such a cool country, and just having been a small part of the preparation going into the tournament has definitely made me hungrier to be selected for the next. Obviously, it was devastating when I got the call that I wasn’t selected. But there was nothing else I could really do apart from be as good as I could for the team and try and put myself in the best place I could to help them prepare for the World Cup.”
Staniforth received the call particularly late, ditching holiday plans with her mother to take attend. The Aston Villa midfielder clearly treasured her time on the Sunshine Coast, crediting it as one of the best camps she’s been a part of. “It was such a wonderful camp,” she remembers. “It was a real privilege to be part of that whole experience. I think me and Maya certainly enjoyed ourselves and I think we brought lots of good stuff too.”
“When we had to say goodbye, it was a bit like ‘the dream’s over now’. You always kind of had in the back of your head ‘maybe there’s a chance’… It was probably my favourite camp I’ve ever been on, as strange as that is, because obviously it stopped shorter than I would have liked. It was a really fun experience, and I was just proud of the team and how well they did.”
Asked whether her mom found someone to holiday with, she remarks, “No! She went on holiday on her own and had an amazing time, so I was really happy for her. It’s her first holiday, first flight, everything, that she’d done on her own. So I was like ‘well done Mum’.”
With a taste of tournament life, both have returned home with extra motivation to achieve with club and country ahead of the new season. “I came away and had such good feelings and no regrets about that whole situation. It left me in a good mental place to go ‘OK, there’s still so much I want to achieve; there’s still so much I want to do with England, and with Aston Villa.’ I just had so much hunger and fire in my belly.”
“I’ve been trying so hard in pre-season. I have felt every rep, every run that we’ve done. It’s been probably the hardest I’ve done… I guess in a sense I’m quite lucky to have that time to be able to really push myself, look at weaknesses and areas where I can improve. I’ve really enjoyed the pain and the struggle, as strange as that sounds.
Le Tissier too is pragmatic in her approach going forward, with plenty of development ahead of here “I’m extremely desperate [to be at Euro 2025] but it’s in two years. There’s a lot that can happen. I just need to focus on getting better. I’m still young so I’ve got a lot of things to learn. if I can do that then that’ll put me in the best place to be selected. But, of course, we’re not focusing on that now. We’re focusing on the present, doing well in these next two games with England and starting well in the WSL season.”
As Le Tissier alludes too, there is so much for this England side to achieve before that tournament. First up is the Nations League and the hope of Olympic qualification that comes with it, swiftly followed by the Euro 2025 qualifying phase. The expectations are high for both despite the obstacles that stand in their path.
All eyes turn initially to Scotland and a particularly spicy Friday night encounter at the Stadium of Light. “It’s a game everyone wants to be a part of,” Le Tissier says. “They want to beat us; we want to beat them. It’s going to be an exciting game, especially up north. They’re massive football fans up there.”
It is a venue that holds particular meaning for Staniforth who started her career at Sunderland before returning for a two-year spell from 2016-2018. “I have really fond memories of living and playing in the north east. I think it must be 12/13 years since I last played at the Stadium of Light, when we played in the FA Cup semi-final there. It was a successful night then, and a good memory for me and the girls who were part of that squad.”
“I think it is just another thing to sink your teeth into,” she reflects on the task ahead. “This team has always shown that when those big games come, we perform and we’re ready for it. I think Friday is no different to that. It’s exciting to be back playing on home soil and against a team that will want to beat us. It’s a quick turnaround, but I guess that’s the best way to get back into the international fold. It keeps you on your toes and keeps you going.”
England’s Nations League fixtures:
- 22/09: vs Scotland | Nations League | Stadium of Light, Sunderland | 19:45 BST | ITV 1
- 26/09: vs Netherlands | Nations League | Stadion Galgenwaard, Utrecht | 19:00 BST | ITV 4
