00:00And as you say there, obviously, there has been a bit of a growth in terms of, you know,
00:06the Lionesses, the WSL, but how important is it that more is given to the foundations
00:11of women's football, because that ultimately does end up improving the professional level
00:15as well?
00:16Yeah, hugely, I think, especially as, like, former Lionesses and the Lionesses now, we've
00:21all come through a grassroots pathway. I think most professional footballers have started
00:25a local community or a local club and then have gone on to do fantastic things. But we
00:30all recognise that the pyramid at the top is the small percentage, and it's so important
00:34that we maintain that, but also keep kind of striving to be better, because there are
00:38so many boundaries still kind of barriers, sorry, still blocking women and girls getting
00:44and staying into football. So I think this research really shows that. So I think we've
00:48just got to keep having these conversations and making sure that we're now putting some
00:51changes in place to make sure that girls and women keep having those opportunities.
00:55How much has women's football actually changed since you started and in comparison to maybe
01:00when you retired or, you know, what it's like in today's day and age? I see quite a lot
01:04has probably changed.
01:05Yeah, and it's a very old age saying it back in my day, and I hate doing it. But at the
01:09same time, sometimes you do these interviews and you kind of have to reflect on it was
01:14kind of like just people's parents and the odd person passing by that might stop and
01:18look at the game for what it is. And at that time, it's still like Sunderland v Everton
01:22or Sunderland v Arsenal, there were still big names in the game playing. And I was only
01:2614, 15 playing senior football, but they were still recognisable names. And we were playing
01:30at some Sunday pitch just like at the side of nowhere. No one really cared about we were
01:35in men's kit, it was all oversized. And like say we just affiliated with the club, we weren't
01:40even cemented into it. And then you look at it now and the ambition every year is for
01:44every club to get to Wembley because the FA Cup is hosted there every year. Every club
01:48is pretty much full time in the WSL and WSL Championships. So it's a massive change, but
01:53it's where the girls need to be in the games when you're going to get better and better
01:55every year.
01:56Yeah, I've spoken to a few sort of lionesses from your generation just missed the, you
02:01know, really, really successful ones. But do you ever sort of give yourself credit for
02:06laying the groundwork for the, you know, for the lionesses to go, I think you should certainly
02:11be able to do that as a player as a former player. And, you know, maybe you look at them
02:16and think it would be great to be in there and winning major trophies or getting to finals.
02:21But you really do deserve some credit for actually laying the groundwork and improving
02:25the women's game, especially at a national level as well.
02:28No, I appreciate that. And I think it's yeah, we did look there was there was people that
02:32went before us as well. Look at me and probably like Sir Jill, Ellen, Steph, Kaz Carney, like
02:37that kind of age, age range, like we were lucky to probably live through both. I think
02:42like everyone that's worn that shirt, like we always had a saying is to leave it in a
02:45better place.
02:46And I think those that went before me, the Rachel Browns, the Pauline Copes, Leanne Halls,
02:50et cetera, Karen Bardsley's, they left that shirt in a better. And it was then for me
02:54to leave it for the likes of Mary, Hannah, Ellie Roebuck, like, and they will continue
02:58to live that legacy.
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