Ella Toone stood out “like a sore thumb” when she first began playing football as a young girl, her first-ever coach remembers, as her natural talent shone through.
“Ella was naturally gifted and stuck out like a sore thumb because she was absolutely brilliant,” says Lee Povah, who was the founder of Astley & Tyldesley FC and coached Ella in the girl’s team for around three years.
“Ella was quick on her feet, had a good first touch, was really skilful and had an eye for a goal. Our entire game plan as a team was to get the ball to Ella.”
Ella Toone is being hailed as one of England’s secret weapons in the Women’s Euro 2022 as the nation prepares for the nail-biting final against Germany.
Her former coach Mr Povah, who lives in Astley, Greater Manchester, near Ella and her family, says Ella was a youngster keen on football and came to train with them at around five years old,
“I knew Ella’s family and she wanted to play football and came to train with us,” he says. “It soon became apparent Ella was really good at football – she was mustard,” he says. “But at the time, we didn’t have a girls team.
“I was working for Wigan Schools Sports Partnership so I approached Wigan Football Development Forum and on the back of that, we agreed to set up a girls league.”
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'Alessia Russo once scored 76 goals in a season for us, now we've 60 kids copying her backheel'30 July, 2022Ella, who now plays for England and Manchester United and has previously played for Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers, is a normal girl who has never forgotten her roots according to Mr Povah, who still sees her regularly at matches for local club Hindsford AFC in Tyldesley, Manchester, where a lot of her family still play.
“When Ella came training with us, there were not any girls’ teams in the area, so we set up Astley and Tyldesley Girls and a league to get her and girls like her playing football because that’s what they wanted to do,” says Mr Povah.
“I can’t take much credit for Ella as a footballer as she did it all herself. She was so committed and played football all the time and was always kicking a ball about.
“Everything she and the Lionesses have achieved is brilliant. It is not just massive for girls’ football, but the sport as a whole as there’s been a huge interest in it because it is football competing at the highest level.”
Mr Povah says even though Ella is now a famous international player, she has stayed grounded and he sees her regularly watching Hindsford’s first team on a Saturday.
“Ella is a really nice, normal girl with a great sense of humour and there’s no edge to her,” he says. “She still comes back to watch local football and isn’t arrogant or bigheaded and just loves football.”
Lorraine Warwick-Ellis, head of women and girls development at Astley and Tyldesley FC, tells i the club is buzzing at the success of the Lionesses and the youngsters are full of pride to know Ella began playing grassroots football there.
She also revealed the rise of women’s football and the amazing achievements of the Lionesses have led to a huge increase in the number of young girls who want to play football.
“I used to run a girl’s team at the club when my daughter was younger, and there was a time when we struggled for players, and would ask any girls we knew who were even remotely interested in football whether they’d like to join,” she says.
“But over the last two years, we have had such an influx of girls wanting to play football, we are now running a team for training little girls under the age of seven who aren’t old enough to join a team yet, and they are called the Little Lionesses.”
Ms Warwick-Ellis says as Ella’s grassroots club, they were invited by the FA to watch pre-season training before the Euros in mid-June and around 45 children and 15 adults went along.
She added: “It was absolutely amazing and everyone was buzzing and it gave the young girls a massive boost about what is possible.
“Women’s football getting more publicity and attention has done a lot to inspire girls as if they can see it, they know they can be it.”
Simon Ellis, chairman of Astley and Tyldesley FC, says the club is immensely proud that Ella began her foray into football with them, and was one of the very first girls to join their girls’ team.
“I remember at the time hearing through word-of-mouth from her coaches that they had a cracking player who showed real promise,” he says.
“It is amazing that Ella now plays for England, and it is really positive that someone showed the determination and drive to succeed at a young age followed her dream and achieved success through hard work.”
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