Poppy Pattinson on first Lionesses call-up

New Lionesses call-up Poppy Pattinson touched down at St. George’s Park for her first senior camp yesterday.

The London City Lionesses defender was named in Sarina Wiegman’s squad for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 European Qualifiers against Ukraine and Iceland.

And the 25 year old, who has represented the Young Lionesses from the under-17s right through to the under-23s, is ready and raring to go.

“It’s special,” she said, after arriving in Burton on Tuesday morning. “Really excited to get started.”

Pattinson described the moment she received the news from Wiegman of her inclusion in the 25-player squad announced earlier this month.

“Pretty amazing,” recalled Pattinson – a player Wiegman explained she has been following for 'a long time'. “It’s a dream come true, what we’ve always worked so hard for, so really special.”

The Houghton-le-Spring-born full-back – who has spent time on the books of Sunderland, Manchester City, Bristol City, Everton and Brighton at club level – is one of two London City players who could make her debut next week.

Freya Godfrey also received her first call-up for England’s final fixtures of 2025, although she is yet to make her senior bow.

“Freya’s a really good friend of mine at London [City Lionesses],” she explained.

“I’m excited to share this week with her and obviously excited to meet up with a lot of the girls that I’ve played over the years with.”

The Lionesses travel to Turkiye to take on Ukraine on Tuesday 3 March (5pm GMT kick-off) before signing off the first camp of the calendar year with a home game against Iceland at The City Ground on Saturday 7 March (12.30 GMT kick-off).