Manchester City’s 19-year-old forward Lauren Hemp is having to get used to high praise. Hemp’s rise has been quick but not quiet. Aged 16, before swapping Bristol City for Manchester, she was named England’s young player of the year and a year later the PFA young player of the year.
Now, having pinned down a starting berth in a City squad packed with internationals, Hemp has gone from promising youngster to a relied-on player.
Phil Neville has for some time had his eye on the nucleus of the squad that won bronze at the Under-20 World Cup in 2018, including Hemp, and is easing them in.
“Last year Lauren Hemp and Sandy MacIver came as training players, they smelled the environment and now they are full-time players in the squad,” the manager said when naming his squad for the SheBelieves Cup, which opens for England against the USA on Thursday. “It has been 18 months in the planning and when you pick young players, they give the squad an energy. If you are good enough, you are old enough.”
Hemp’s club and England colleague Ellen White has no doubts on that front: “She’s exciting to watch, exciting to play alongside. She brings something different and she is only going to get better. It will be exciting to see what she can do against the USA and some of the best right-backs in the world.”
Chelsea’s captain, Magda Eriksson, described Hemp as “fantastic” when discussing the recent exhilarating 3-3 draw at City. Hemp is humbled by the plaudits. “It’s really nice to hear,” she said, having gone from watching the World Cup on her sofa to sitting in England’s Orlando hotel. “It’s exciting that people are talking about me.
“They are people I’ve looked up to in the women’s game since I was a kid. So to know they are now speaking highly of me gives me the confidence to be able to showcase what I’ve got and hopefully bring that to the tournament. It gives me the confidence to play without any fear.”
Playing without fear is a characteristic many have picked up on in the winger. “If I make a mistake – everyone makes a mistake – it’s just having that confidence to take players on and I know I have that ability,” she said.
There will be plenty hoping that, in the absence of the injured Beth Mead, Hemp will at the very least get some minutes off the bench against the USA.
“I’m really excited to come up against some of the best full-backs in the world,” she said. “I check the name on the day but I don’t really think about it too much. I’m just going to play my game and hopefully show everyone that I can beat any right-back that I come up against.”
That would likely propel her more into the limelight and perhaps get her noticed more out and about. “I did get noticed in my chip shop [in Norwich] once,” she said with a laugh. “It probably wasn’t the best place to get recognised.
“It was some young girls from the local side that I had played for so it was nice that they recognised me. I think it’s nice for them to know that there is a way to get to the top even though you’re from an area that not that many people come from. There’s not that many opportunities from there but as the women’s game grows, it’s nice to see more.”
