The last time Beth England was seen on the pitch, she was being thrown on by Sarina Wiegman in the dying minutes to try and salvage the Lionesses’ World Cup dream.
Since the 1-0 defeat to Spain in the final, England has undergone hip surgery and has not yet played a minute for club or country.
Yet the spectre of that occasion, and what followed it, has not gone away. On Monday, the former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales was banned from football for three years for kissing forward Jenni Hermoso during the celebrations. Hermoso only returned last week, scoring the winning goal against Italy in the Nations League.
Tottenham striker England admits that even now, the Rubiales saga remains a “touchy subject”, having watched Hermoso “have that moment taken away from her and all of the achievements put to one side for this one scandalous act.
“It’s the pinnacle of your career,” she tells i. “You’ve just won the World Cup final and it’s completely overshadowed by all this nonsense that could have been prevented.
“But I also know there’s been a lot of issues with the Spanish Federation and highlighting that is hopefully going to bring about change.
“And not just for Spain or women’s football, but sport in general, that we as women are not to be used in that manner or treated in that manner. We wouldn’t expect that to happen to our male counterparts so we shouldn’t expect the same.
“So possibly the only positive is that it becomes such a worldwide scandal that it shows it’s not acceptable and that we as women will stand up to fight against this. And I take my hat off to Jenni for standing up and fighting as much as she did and not backing down.”
During her own time away, there has been no risk of England letting up on her responsibilities. She was recently given the Spurs captaincy in a surprise phone call from new manager Robert Vilahamn, which she considers “a huge honour”. And she has spent most of the last three months with her two working retrievers in a job she takes just as seriously: Dog Mum.
“They are my children,” England says. “If anyone asks, ‘have you got children?’ I say yes, I have two children. If they have four legs and fur it’s none of your business, they are my child.”
“They” are Buddy, aged four, and Dilys, two-and-a-half – they are uncle and niece. “She is the devil,” England says of Dilys. “But also the best thing that’s changed our lives.”
How so? “She will terrorise him. She would bite him, and he is so placid and patient with her. She runs the house – as a woman I’m not surprised – she’s the boss and he just lets her do what she wants. When it gets to a point where she really bothers him, he will tell her off and put her in her place. I just wish he told her off a little bit more.”
England is fronting a campaign to promote more responsible dog ownership. “When you have a child you get nine months, you have antenatal classes,” she points out. “You put everything in place ready for that child to be born – these days you can click online and within 24 hours have a dog.” Hosting a series of puppy classes, the 29-year-old has clearly been relishing normal life after a nine-week camp in Australia.
Nevertheless it cannot have been easy watching her teammates return to WSL action while she is still taking it “day by day” in her recovery. She confirms she is “on track” to return as scheduled. Her injury has meant she has not had a chance to play since the heartache of the World Cup final, though she can now look back at that night in Sydney with a little more fondness.
“Not many people can say they’ve played in a World Cup final,” she smiles. “Albeit we fell short at the final hurdle, you’re second best in the world and that in itself is something to be proud of. Obviously we’d have liked to have gone all the way and won it, especially after the previous year of winning the Euros, but we weren’t the better team on the day and that’s just football.”
It was far from certain that England would make it to Australia at all. In her final six months at Chelsea, she scored just twice, largely restricted to the bench and eventually moved to Spurs in a £250,000 deal – a record transfer between two English clubs. As Tottenham battled relegation, she kept them up almost single-handedly with 12 goals in 12 games.
“Last year I just thrived off the pressure, but it was almost like there wasn’t any pressure either because there wasn’t any expectation,” she recalls.
“Within the latter stages of my career at Chelsea I’d not really played much so it was just about a fresh start and showing not anyone else, but more myself, that I know I’m good enough and I can be a great striker. I don’t know how I did it but I had an amazing second half of the season which ultimately got me to the World Cup.”
Though England is yet to play, Spurs have arguably been this season’s biggest surprise package so far, transformed by Vilahamn’s focus on identity, which he has compared to the philosophy of the men’s team under Ange Postecoglou.
“The girls have really bought into it,” says England, whose goals have been replaced in the meantime by new signing Martha Thomas.
“We’ve recruited quite well as well and I think you’re seeing that in performances, we’re starting to be a lot more clinical. I think that’s what we lacked last year there wasn’t as many goalscorers as we’re seeing now.”
“It’s something I never thought I would have done,” she says of her captaincy. “But I’ve got a lot of experience in the game and I’m still learning, I’m not going to be a perfect captain or get things right all the time but I can definitely bring what I’ve learned.
“I’ve been in the WSL since I was 16 and I’ve been around great role models. So hopefully I can continue giving that leadership to the girls, and most importantly, when I get back on the pitch.”
Beth England has partnered with Burns Pet Nutrition and Admiral Pet Insurance to host a series of puppy parenting classes designed to help new puppy parents stay on the ball with all the things they need to remember. You can watch the puppy parenting classes via the Burns You Tube page
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