'I think I've gone a bit full circle'

What’s the secret to my seventh major tournament? There are no secrets! I’m very fortunate that this is my seventh.

I know many people don’t even get the opportunity to go to one because things happen – injuries, selection – that are part and parcel of football. I never take any of them for granted. I’m still just as excited for this one as I was for my very first one.

I think I’ve gone a bit of a full circle. My first tournament, I enjoyed it so much. Me and Jordan [Nobbs] were the youngest players in the squad and we didn’t play at all. It was a very different to then some of the other tournaments where I played a lot and maybe been one of the more key players to then knowing that these are my final few tournaments and taking them all in again and not taking any moment for granted.

You need to take it for what it is and enjoy yourself, especially when you have moments on the pitch and when the fans are there. My very first game for England, the crowd was pretty small and not as many fans to where we are now. You’ve just got to appreciate them. And each tournament gets bigger and better.

The send-off game in Leicester at the weekend was a great atmosphere. I think the stadium was full of England fans and Jamaican fans as well.

We’ve never played Jamaica so that was quite nice to play against a team who none of us have played against, a team that’s kind of been up and coming the last few years. To have them over in England and play against them was amazing.

My goal was something that we literally worked on the day before in training with myself and Jess [Carter] which is why I think everybody was so excited. It was something we knew we’d practiced already.

On a plate! 🍽️@_JessCarter 🔗 @LucyBronze pic.twitter.com/LTwoxWQb9A

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) June 29, 2025

We’re here in Switzerland now. The first day is nice that we’ve got a lot of downtime to settle in. There’s obviously so much excitement. It’s a new hotel, new surroundings.

Today, we’re going on a boat and this is our first day, so we get to see a little bit more. When it comes to group activities, we have a really fun atmosphere. It’s good to spend time together away from the football pitch and just have fun and enjoy where we are.

We’re very, very fortunate. We knew coming into the tournament we had a nice basecamp. Every single player was blown away by the setup that we have. It’s just amazing. I walked around with Grace [Clinton] and Maya [Le Tissier] and they were like, ‘is this the best one you’ve had?’ I was like, ‘yeah, this is the best’.

The tournament kicks off very soon. We’ll all be watching Switzerland play because they’re the host nation and we know what that feels like to be the host nation and how exciting the buzz is around that game. I can imagine we might watch that together.

That’s part of the tournament I absolutely love – when the games start and you start watching them. We’ve got an amazing board at the minute where we can fill out all the scores. Grace was like, ‘I can’t wait to fill this out!’ and Aggie. I was like, ‘no, no no – that’s my job. That’s the only thing you need to give me’.

I can remember the first time doing it. I think it just started because you’re in your first few tournaments when you’re younger and you don’t expect to play but you’re so excited.

I just love football, so I’d be watching the games and wanting to know the players and who scored. I started filling the chart out because none of the older players were doing it then I kept doing it every tournament.

I remember for Team GB at the Olympics, me and Lotte [Wubben-Moy] had to make one because it didn’t even exist and that was really fun. I came yesterday thinking, ‘I wonder what it’ll look like if we need to make one’ and it’s like four metres tall and four metres wide, and it’s got magnetic flags and stuff!

After this day off, we’ll have training, just preparing for our first game against France who are a really good team.

I think if I wasn’t in this squad right now and I was watching it at home as a fan, I’d say that’s got to be the most exciting group game of the entire tournament – two of the highest ranked teams playing against each other if I’m not mistaken. Two big favourites going head-to-head early on is exciting for everyone.