Beth England admitted that she has struggled with self-belief after her two goals against Arsenal helped Chelsea to their first Continental League Cup win.
“A lot of people that know me know my confidence was always something I did battle with,” she said. “Thankfully I am in a position now where I am much more grown up, mentally as a well as physically.”
The 25-year-old, who now has 21 goals in all competitions for her club this season, has had a bumpy ride to the top. Having joined Chelsea from Doncaster Rovers Belles she was deemed “not ready” by Emma Hayes and sent on loan to Liverpool.
No other Chelsea player has been shipped on loan by Hayes and become an established first-team player. England, though, is a fighter. “I love the story because she had to earn it,” said her manager. “There’s nothing more joyful [than] when a player who you don’t really know if they are going to be able to cut it at the top level gets their head down and puts everything into their career.”
When asked about her path to the top, England joked: “How long have you got? Honestly, everyone’s journey is different, I can’t say mine has been easy. It’s just been a long old roll. I have always been a grafter, my parents brought me up to never give up and be a worker, and thankfully I am getting results.”
Her fighting spirit seems reflective of a wider mood within the Chelsea squad. In the Women’s Super League they have come from behind nine times to grab a result – six of them wins – and they remain unbeaten. It was that never-say-die attitude that ensured heads did not bow on Saturday when Leah Williamson struck an equaliser for Arsenal in the 85th minute.
“Erin Cuthbert literally pulled me and said: ‘Just bring it, I know you have got something else in you,’” said England, who struck again at the death to secure her first major trophy with Chelsea.
But there was no time to celebrate. Straight after the match the striker and the other members of Phil Neville’s England squad travelled to Gatwick for a flight to Orlando, where the Lionesses face the USA in their SheBelieves Cup opener on Thursday.
“Without doubt her and Ellen White are the best two centre-forwards in England on form and she rightly deserves her place in the squad,” Neville said last month. She has surely played her way into his starting XI.
“I really think England have got a player that can add something to them going to the next stage,” Hayes said of a forward who missed out on the World Cup squad last year despite finishing the season as Chelsea’s top scorer.
“I’d be buzzing if we could bring the trophy back,” England added. “The performances at the back-end of last season weren’t a credit to how well I know this England team can play, so fingers crossed we go out there as a team and absolutely smash it.”
