Lioness Freya Godfrey's grassroots story

I really enjoyed my grassroots time. It sets you up perfectly for the next steps.

I played for Hannakins Farm in Billericay. I remember it was me and another girl in a boys’ team and she was a goalkeeper. I was outfield and I’ve always been a winger and I loved it. I loved sprinting up and down the wing – I didn’t really do much but I just ran a lot.

A couple of the boys who I played with when I was seven or eight messaged me when I got the England call-up which was really nice to hear from them and it was kind of a full circle moment.

That girl that I said used to play in goal, I then grew up with her and played with her at Arsenal, so we’re still in touch now. She now plays for Billericay Town and she’s balling out there, so it’s nice to still be in contact with her. What were the chances that we both came up together?

My brothers didn’t really play football – they liked watching it at games but they didn’t play it, so my neighbour would always be in the street because we lived in a cul-de-sac and we would always be in the street playing football. It was always me and him, then my brothers and his sister would be there going, ‘they’re playing again’.

He was a goalkeeper, so I would always shoot against him and my parents said, ‘oh, she’s decent’ and I really enjoyed it, so I signed up for a Saturday school. From there, I went into a boys’ team.

I also played for West Ham who were a grassroots team at the time. I played grassroots for probably four or five years.

My dad is a massive West Ham fan, so me and my brothers grew up going to watch West Ham games. Me and my brothers still have season tickets to this day but obviously, I can’t really make the most of the games.

It’s a lovely thing that I have to share with my dad. He’s so proud of me – he loves football and he loves everything about it, so being able to share this with him and still have time with him to go the games that started out my love for the game, it’s really special to have that still.

Dimitri Payet was incredible when he was at West Ham. I love Neymar – I’ve always loved Neymar. I used to watch his highlights when I was a kid but Dimitri Payet was the one that made me fall in love with football. Eden Hazard as well. He was an incredible player.

I just enjoyed the freedom of it. You were there because you enjoyed it. That was why you signed up to play football because you found a love in it and it was something you could do to take out some energy that your parents didn’t want taking out round the house.

I loved being able to run around on the pitch and kick the ball, score some goals. I think just the pure joy of playing which as you grow up, you can forget as pressures mount up. Ultimately, at the end of the day, we play football because we love playing it. It’s nice to think back on those times and remember that and reset and ground myself.

I have memories of goals I’ve scored from when I was young and I just think back to those and the rush it gives me when I’m dribbling with the ball and shooting and scoring a goal.

I have a vision of a goal where I picked up the ball deep in my own half and just sprinted and sprinted and sprinted. I remember having tears in my eyes because it was really windy and the wind was blowing and I remember not being able to see anything because I had tears in my eyes from running, then I scored and I remember all my teammates jumping on me. I don’t know why but I have a really vivid memory of that. It was when I was at West Ham and I was nine or ten.

We’d watch England all the time. It would always be on the TV and I’d be there screaming at the TV.

I remember one time, we were on holiday when the Women’s EUROs was on [in 2017] and we managed to find it on some German TV. I remember watching that and Jodie Taylor was scoring loads of goals. I remember she was smashing it and when I got the chance to work with her at Arsenal, I was in awe and gobsmacked – it was so cool.

Coming up from the age groups with England is such a special thing to be a part of. I think it’s gone very quickly when I think back to my first camp. There’s so many people in the under-23s [now] who were there on my first camp which is so special because I’ve known some of these girls for six years now which is incredible to be able to go through this journey together.

It’s lovely to look back every camp and say, ‘do you remember this time?’ whether it’s when we were 13 or when we were 18. They’re all so proud of me and so happy for me and I can’t wait for it to be them soon – I’m so excited.

It’s a credit to the pathway and the chances that Sarina gives to young players. I was talking to Lucia [Kendall] – we played together three years ago in the under-19s. It’s incredible that we’re now here together and we’re able to share those memories with each other in this environment.

I remember Brooke Aspin was my roommate on my first camp. She was my first-ever roommate which is hilarious because she’s still in and around it now which is nice to see her. I remember it just being so fun and so chilled but it wasn’t chilled at the same time. They were trying to prepare us for the older age groups, so it was quite strict but it was disciplined – we needed it.

I remember making loads of new friends. A lot of the girls are here at under-23s like Keira Barry and Evie Rabjohn – so many names who are still around. We had such a good time at those younger age groups and I remember it being such a laugh.

I’d say I was probably quite shy. I hadn’t really come into myself yet. Once I’m comfortable in my environment, I come out of my shell a bit more which I think is what happened. When I was first coming on the England camps, I also first joined Arsenal, so I was still settling in there.

England helped me settle there a lot because I made friends on camp because we were together for such long time periods at a time which I could take back to club.

At under-12s or under-14s, my parents were sacrificing a lot more of their time to take me to training and stuff, especially when I joined Arsenal. I’d be training twice a week and games on the weekend and they’d be driving me here, there and everywhere. Even my brothers as well. My dad would be working late, so they’d have to come to training sessions with me and just sit in the car for hours while I trained.

A lot of my family sacrificed a lot, so it’s always something I’ve been aware of and know that I have to keep at this because they’ve done so much for me. Obviously, I wanted to keep at it but that was also a big reason to make sure it was all worth it for them.

It’s nice to think back and remember that’s why I started playing football in the first place and I try and keep that with me because you play your best football when you’re happy, so that’s probably the main thing for me to remember: I play this game because I love it.