When a little girl called Beth Mead stood before him dressed in a full football kit and smart new boots asking him if she could play, Philip Nedley recalls his biggest fear being that she might get hurt by the boisterous boys.
“Beth was tiny and some of the boys were twice her size,” explains Nedley, who lives in the North Yorkshire village of Hinderwell where Mead grew up and where her family still live just down the road from him.
Nedley was Mead’s first ever football coach and says watching her playing for England in the Euros this summer has made him feel proud that he had even a small involvement in her footballing career.
Mead began playing football at a Saturday morning football session run by Nedley and a couple of other dads who set it up for their own sons as something for youngsters to do in the village sports field.
“A couple of years after we’d set it up, this little girl turned up in an England strip with a number seven at the back and told us she wanted to play, ” remembers Nedley. “We ran the team for five to 11-year-olds so our concern was that she might get hurt by the bigger lads.
“However, as soon as she started playing, we realised Beth was giving as good as she got and kicking the big lads all over the place and getting the ball past them. Even at that young age, she showed real skill and determination.”
Mead and the other players paid £1 for the two-hour Saturday morning football session and Nedley said being the only girl didn’t faze her at all – in fact, it improved her.
“Playing with lads helped her become a better player as she was playing with stronger, more physical players. It improved her because she held her own,” he said.
“Beth showed a great footballing brain. At that age, all the children used to chase after the ball, but Beth quickly realised she could get the ball and pass it to other players and worked out what she needed to do.
“Off the pitch, Beth was a quiet, reserved and gentle girl. But on the field, she became a dynamic and determined footballer. She was mad about football and just wanted to play.”
Mead carried on playing with the boys and was coached by Nedley until around the age of 10 when he says it became apparent she was “too good for them”.
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He said he chatted to her parents about it and told them they needed to travel further afield to get her into a girls’ team. Mead joined a team in Middlesbrough, travelling the 45-minute journey there to play. She ended up being scouted by Middlesbrough’s Centre of Excellence.
Witnessing Mead’s amazing achievements with the Lionesses is a source of real pride for the community, Nedley said.
“It is tremendous for the whole village and everyone involved. The village has been behind her from the start and raised money with things like raffles and coffee mornings to buy her football boots and help with transport costs. Everyone is so proud and Beth is a real talking point in the village.
“You could tell Beth’s footballing talents from an early age and that she had something special about her.
“But what she has achieved has gone beyond all our expectations. We never dreamed she’d play for England. I feel tremendously proud to have been her first football coach and even had a little involvement with her as a footballer.
“Beth is such a nice kid and comes from such a lovely family who drove hundreds of miles to support her playing in games.
“Her success couldn’t happen to a nicer person. It is Beth’s dedication and hard work that has made it happen for her.”
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