Keira Walsh reflects on her 100-cap milestone

Keira Walsh became the latest member of the Lionesses’ centurion club this week, when she captained England to a memorable victory over Spain at Wembley in what was her 100th senior appearance.

The Chelsea midfielder has become a key part of the England team, having made her debut back in 2017 and since gone on to help the Lionesses win two EURO titles, a Finalissima and a silver medal in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

And after having 24 hours to digest her latest achievement in football, the 29 year old reflected on some of the moments and influences she’s had along the way in a sit-down interview which you can watch on the official England app.

“It's never something that I thought I would achieve when I first started playing football,” said Walsh.

“Just to play for your country once, it's such a special feeling and you feel really grateful and lucky to have done that so to have done it 100 times is really special.

“It kind of just took me back to reminiscing about all the players I've played with and all the great experiences I’ve had, and I think it was probably a little bit more emotional for me than what I thought.”

With the Lionesses set to play their 500th game when they take on Iceland in their next World Cup qualifier on Saturday evening, it means Walsh will have featured in a fifth of all games in the team’s history so far, something which she revealed was mentioned to her before the game on Tuesday.

“Lotte [Wubben-Moy] said that to me before we kicked-off against Spain. When we always do high fives in the changing room and when I went over to her, she was like: ‘you've played one-fifth of all Lionesses’ games.’

“It’s a bit crazy to think about it like that but with it being the 500th game, I actually feel like that needs to be celebrated more.

“Obviously the women who came before us and really fought for our sport and our game, we're very lucky and privileged to be in the position where we can play at Wembley in front of 70,000 people and they barely had any support at all.

“Earlier in the camp we heard from a few former Lionesses and I think it really hits home, how lucky we are and hopefully they're proud of us when they're watching us play now and we're doing justice for the shirt.”

Looking back to her first taste of life with the Lionesses, the Rochdale-born playmaker still has vivid memories of the build-up to her first match – a 5-0 win over Kazakhstan in Colchester in November 2017.

“I just remember Mo Marley sitting me down and telling me that I was going to be starting and I think it was maybe my first or second camp so I was really, really surprised,” she explained.

“I was just happy to be getting selected and getting experience training with those players and when she told me I was going to be playing in the ten, I just remember immediately being really, really nervous.

“But luckily I was playing with players that I played a lot with at City, so that definitely helped me feel more comfortable.

“I think it's just something that I always wanted to do so to get my first cap and obviously off Mo as well, who was my under-19s coach, that made it more of a full circle moment.”

Among her teammates that evening was a player who Walsh says remains her biggest influence, another England centurion in the one and only Jill Scott.

“Playing with her and having a role model as good as her next to you for eight, ten years of your career, I learnt a lot from her on and off the pitch,” she said.

“She's still someone who supports me a lot to this day, so I'm very glad that our paths crossed and I’m lucky that we got to spend so many good years together and a lot of my caps were spent playing with her.

“Jill will always stick up for what's right and I think even you could see that in the way she plays, she's very honest with her work rate and she never gives up until the final whistle.

“Just playing with her, she probably made me appreciate that side of the game a little bit more and you can probably see that in the way that England have performed in the last few games, we'll do anything to get the job done.

“That pretty much sums up Jill and I think that's something that I've took inspiration from throughout my career as well.”