England Women’s Football Team: In Profile

The Goalscorer

Kelly Smith is England Women’s all-time top goalscorer with 46, but not far behind her on 40 goals is midfield maestro Fara Williams. The 33 year old is one of the most experienced players in the squad, having begun her professional career back in 2001 at Charlton Ladies. She moved to Everton Ladies in 2004, where she stayed and enjoyed relative success until 2012, when she then left for local rivals Liverpool.

She stayed with the Reds until 2015, but was then snapped up by Arsenal Ladies, where she has notched two goals in 22 appearances for the Gunners. Her honours include two FA Women’s Cups, two FA Women’s Premier League Cups and two FA WSL titles as well as three Cyprus Cup wins with England. She’s England’s designated penalty taker, so she could find herself closing in on Smith’s record by the end of the tournament.

The One to Watch

Fran Kirby is arguably the most promising player in this England squad. She began her career at her local club Reading in 2012 and took them to the WSL 2, scoring 32 goals in 21 appearances in the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division. Kirby helped Reading to a third place finish in 2014 with 24 goals in 16 appearances, ending the season as the league’s top scorer and being awarded the FA WSL2 Players’ Player of the Year.

She continued that form into the 2015 season when, after a promising World Cup was ended due to injury, she was rewarded with a transfer to WSL side Chelsea, where she has scored 15 goals in 17 appearances for the Blues. Mark Sampson hailed her a ‘mini-Messi’ in Canada in 2015 and the nation will be hoping she can live up to that comparison at the Euros.

England Women’s  Fixtures and Results

England Women are in Group D for the championships along with neighbours Scotland as well as Portugal and Spain. Below, you can find information on all of England’s group stage fixtures, which can be watched live on Channel 4.

Wednesday 19^th July 2017 19:45 BST– v Scotland – 6-0 (W)

Group Stage – Galgenweaard, Utrecht

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Sunday 23^rd July 2017 19:45 BST – v Spain – 2-0 (W)

Group Stage – Rat Verlegh, Breda

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Thursday 27^th July 19:45 BST – v Portugal – 1 – 2 (W)

Group Stage – Willem II, Tilburg

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Sunday 30th July 19:45 BST – v France 1-0 (W)

Quarter-Finals – De Adelaarshorst, Deventer

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Thursday 3rd August 19:45 BST – v Netherlands

Semi-Finals – De Grolsch Veste, Enschede

England Women’s Squad

Mark Sampson has named a 23-strong squad for the Euro Championships in the Netherlands, those who follow the England Women will notice absence of Kelly Smith, with this being the first major tournament the Lionesses have competed in since the history-making forward retired from international football. You can find the full England Women’s squad for the Euros below.

Goalkeepers

Karen Bardsley (Man City), Siobhan Chamberlain (Liverpool), Calry Telford (Notts County)

Defenders

Laura Bassett (Notts County), Lucy Bronze (Man City), Alex Greenwood (Liverpool), Steph Houghton (Man City), Jo Potter (Notts Country), Alex Scott (Arsenal), Demi Stokes (Man City), Casey Stoney (Liverpool)

Midfielders

Millie Bright (Chelsea), Isobel Christiansen (Man City), Jade Moore (Notts County), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), Jill Scott (Man City), Fara Williams (Arsenal)

Forwards

Karen Carney (Chelsea), Toni Duggan (Barcelona), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Nikita Parris (Man City), Jodie Taylor (Arsenal, Ellen White (Birmingham City)

Head Coach

Mark Sampson

At the time of writing, England Women are the 7/1* third-favourites to win Euro 2017, with France the 7/2* second-favourites and Germany, who England beat in 2015 remember, considered the favourites at a short 15/8*. If you fancy an outsider to cause a shock, all 16 teams participating in the tournament have been priced up, so head on over to Coral and get your UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 bets on now!

*Prices will change as tournament progresses