BETHANY ENGLAND has never forgotten that special feeling of lifting the FA Cup for the first time.
It galvanised an “addiction to winning” for the striker who has won 10 major trophies since the start of her senior club career in 2011.
Today she hopes to lead Tottenham to glory when they take on Manchester United in an historic Women’s FA Cup encounter.
The build-up to the match has brought back memories of England’s triumphs with her old club Chelsea.
Before her British transfer record-breaking £250,000 Spurs switch last January, she won the trophy twice in 2021 and 2022 during a seven-year Blues spell.
And the Barnsley-born player, 29, reckons a victory with Tottenham would carry different meaning following the club’s battle for WSL survival last season.
The Spurs captain said: “I don’t think you ever forget your first FA Cup win.
“Playing at Wembley is massive. I’ve played there three times in FA Cup finals, and been there with England quite a few times.
“It will be an amazing occasion.
“Winning that trophy becomes like an addiction because you constantly want that.
“But I think it would hold a different meaning to me because I know the struggles that Tottenham have had.
“To be able to bring some success to the football club in this manner, especially if I’m able to lead the team out, would mean a great deal to me and everyone at the football club.”
For the first time since 2012 the contest’s final will produce a winner outside of Chelsea, Arsenal or Man City.
The Women’s Super League giants have dominated the competition with the Gunners and City winning three finals each and Chelsea lifting the trophy five times.
Tomorrow’s game could also see Tottenham forward Jessica Naz, 23, among her side’s FA Cup final debutants.
The Lionesses Under-23 ace has impressed for the North London club this season including netting the equaliser that paved the way for their 2-1 semis knockout of Leicester.
The Tottenham academy product, who began her senior career at Arsenal in 2017, before returning to Spurs a year later, enjoys learning from a skipper she sees as a “born winner”.
England, who has netted 16 goals in 24 top-flight Tottenham games, adds: “I want to win everything.
“For Jess to say that I’m a born winner means a lot because it’s something that I try and fight for every day when I step out onto that pitch.
“Being seen as a role model amongst your peers and the people you’re playing with is huge.
“It’s a beautiful thing coming from young players such as Jess.
“She’s having to play in different roles this season, we’re talking a lot more and I’m trying to help her in terms of doing a nine role if it’s something that she’s not used to.
“I’ve been around in the WSL a long time now and being able to help share my experiences, and I guess the learning curves
“But being that role model for someone like Jess is a great feeling.
“I hope I can continue to help push the younger generation who want to improve more.”
Being a captain for Tottenham is a role that England feels has changed her as a player and person.
And she jokes of sometimes feeling like a grandmother to the club’s younger, rising stars.
She says: “I feel probably more like a grandmother at the minute with the age of some of the kids coming through. I’m not even that old, but I feel it.
“I’ve had the privilege of being around such great leaders whether that’s at Chelsea and England, with learning from Steph Houghton and Carly Telford, Jill Scott who helped pave the way in women’s football.
“Being able to have had access to their knowledge, and the experiences and the leadership that they’ve had, has helped me bring that to Tottenham.
“It’s a very different environment to what I faced when I was at Chelsea.
“There’s still some growing to do, but we’ve come on in leaps and bounds.”
This afternoon’s clash comes at time in which England is helping to raise awareness of skin cancer.
The condition is one of the world’s most common forms of cancer and one that her grandfather Barry Fletcher died from.
As part of Skin Cancer Awareness Month, England is fronting a campaign urging the public to prioritise sunscreen protection in the summer and in hot weather holiday destinations
The drive is being led by mobile network O2 who have collaborated with British Skin Foundation and Green People to create a limited-edition smartphone accessory with a built-in SPF30 sunscreen for holidaymakers.
In the UK one in four men and one in five women will develop a form of skin cancer according to the Karen Clifford Skin Cancer Charity.
England said: “I don’t think my granddad was much of a sunscreen user.
“Unfortunately, he was very old school and he would be out all the time doing two walks a day with his dog at the park.
“This campaign is a huge issue and I want to help voice that to the people that the protection is there, and that it is important.
“Being able to partner with a brand like O2 on this is massive.”
