Missy Bo Kearns: My Grassroots Story

My football journey started with my family, which is really football-driven. Everyone's into it, especially being from Liverpool. It's a massive football city, with the rivalries and the passion.

My older cousins all loved football and all I'd be doing as a kid was playing in the garden against them. I'd be running around tackling them, they were tackling me, and before I knew it I was playing every single day for a local boys team. I kicked on from there.

The first youth club I signed for was Mossley Hill in a local league. It was quite a competitive league and I was probably the only girl on a field with about 20 matches going on. It didn't faze me or bother me, I didn't ever think about it. I just wanted to focus on being a footballer.

I was teammates with Curtis Jones at that time so it's fairly mad that our first senior call-ups for England ended up coming at the same time in May 2024. Our pathways have been pretty similar. When he signed for Liverpool, I signed for Liverpool. When he made his Under-15s debut I made my U15s debut. He's getting everything he deserves, too, because he's worked so hard.

You can see how Scouse players play. You're not just gifted with the opportunity and I think there's that extra determination and fight. Steven Gerrard was my big inspiration growing up and I see those attributes in a lot of other players from Liverpool.

While I was at Mossley Hill I attended a local youth club called The Shewsy. Toni Duggan had previously gone there and she was at Everton by the time I started going. She came down, saw me play, and told Everton they should look at me. Toni was a big influence growing up, she was always there for me. I got trials at Everton but I found out there was a Liverpool team and not long after, when they were at Mossley Hill watching Curtis, I got the opportunity to go there instead. It was a no-brainer.

From there I got myself into the international setup. I loved it so much because you play against all sorts of teams and styles. From as young as the U15s you're travelling away for days at a time going to tournaments. You get used to being away from family for a long time with the same people and those experiences help you develop as a person. The stuff you learn along the way builds the foundations for when you get the opportunity at senior level.

Ever since, it's felt like I'm living the dream as a professional. Everything I hoped for is happening and all the sacrifice and hard work is paying off. I'm very fortunate.