Five things you may have missed from the first episode of That Lionesses Podcast

England’s Ella Toone and Keira Walsh joined host Harriet Rose for the very first episode of That Lionesses Podcast connected by EE, now available across all major podcast platforms.

If you haven’t yet had chance to listen in, here are five things you may have missed from the first instalment.

EURO 2022 memories

Ahead of this year’s tournament, the Lionesses duo took the opportunity to reflect on EURO 2022 when England lifted the trophy on home soil and the ‘whirlwind’ that followed.

From reminiscing about head coach Sarina Wiegman and captain Leah Williamson cutting the cake, the celebrations in the aftermath and an ‘absolutely bloody fantastic’ summer, there was plenty to get stuck into.

“A lot's happened since then,” said Toone. “I knew that my role in that tournament was to be a game changer and come on and change games. And I just embraced that role. I think it suited me really well to come on and impact the game.”

Dynamic duo

But, most importantly, Toone and Walsh cast their minds back to the 62nd minute of the Final at Wembley against Germany when the pair combined to break the deadlock as Toone – who admitted she still watches the footage back when she’s ‘feeling a bit down’ – netted the opening goal of the game.

“It was such a special memory,” explained Toone. “I think the girls who started the game did all the hard work and then I managed to come on and have that moment. Obviously I got quite a lot of credit, but the pass put it on a plate.”

And Walsh pinpointed the ‘trust’ the team had in Toone and Alessia Russo to come off the bench and make an impact.

“I think throughout the tournament that was happening for me and Less,” added Toone. “Less was coming on, and scoring back heels and stuff but obviously, when you score the goal, you get the recognition.”

Episode 1️⃣ with Ella Toone and Keira Walsh is now officially LIVE! 😁😁

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Insider insight

On the topic of EURO 2022, the pair played a game of campmates as they discussed all things on and off the pitch, awarding the unsung hero of the tournament prize to Demi Stokes, choosing Georgia Stanway as England’s surprise package and revealing Jill Scott gave the best pep talks.

The biggest joker went to Scott again or Nikita Parris, while Parris’ ‘shoulder shimmy’ won her the best dance moves, with an honourable mention for Chloe Kelly. And Walsh called out one of her closest friends and skipper Leah Williamson as the most likely to shed an emotional tear.

“Yeah, I feel like she does (cry) when it’s stuff like that,” said Walsh. “I feel like her face got screenshotted a few times!”

First impressions

Conversation shifted to first impressions and the first-ever meeting between Toone and Walsh, who spent time together in Manchester City’s academy setup as youngsters before going their separate ways.

But despite Walsh describing Toone as ‘very cheeky’ but ‘shy’, Toone told the story of the ultimate icebreaker which eventually brought her out of her shell after receiving her first Lionesses call-up.

“On my first camp, I get here,” recalled Toone. “I know Keira and the girls at City, I'm really close to Abbie McManus and whatever. Anyway, I get sent to blood testing. Fainted doing a blood test.

“I fainted first camp, didn’t really know anyone so everyone’s like, ‘quick, someone go and get Abbie’. Obviously me and Abbie were really close then. Next minute I woke up from the faint and Abbie was at the door taking pictures of me. Anyway, when I came out the room, everyone was laughing.”

The next generation

As attention turns to this summer’s tournament, which gets underway for the Lionesses on Saturday 5 July when they take on France in Group D, Walsh gave a shoutout to some of the new faces in the squad, including Grace Clinton, Jess Park and Aggie Beever-Jones – who bagged a hat-trick at Wembley on Friday night.

“A lot of the teams are also good, so it's going to be difficult,” said Walsh. “But we've got a lot of new, good, young players, so it's going to be an exciting one.”

“I think we always take a lot of traveling fans with us, so we never really feel like we're away from anywhere, if that makes sense,” added Toone. “We know what it's like to play in front of crowds that aren’t ours, but we also have a lot of fans who come and support us.”