Michelle Agyemang: From ball girl to EURO glory

A 15 year old Michelle Agyemang was once on the outside looking in. A ball girl at Wembley less than four years prior to bursting onto the scene and lighting up the international stage, it's been some journey for the youngster.

In October 2021, England faced Northern Ireland in a FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifier. Beth Mead became the first Lioness to score a treble at the national stadium. Sarina Wiegman's team put four past their opponents. There were over 23,000 in attendance - one of which was Agyemang.

“We played a game that day and some of us got to be ball girls at that game," recalled Agyemang, looking back on that day. “It was amazing to watch. Beth scored a hat-trick that day.”

“The experience was fun. I did a men’s game just before that, but to do that with my friends at the sidelines was even better. And to see people that I’ve been watching for years and be able to give them a ball was insane. They all didn’t know - I didn’t tell them!”

Becoming a professional footballer was never something Agyemang overcomplicated growing up. Instead, it was something that developed naturally through playing, learning and enjoying football in different environments.

“When I first joined Arsenal, all the girls just played in different positions,” she said. “I think I just found my love of playing up top, and scoring goals was what I wanted to do.”

Like many young players coming through elite academies, her early football education was built on variety rather than rigid roles, something she credits with helping her discover her natural instincts in attack.

Growing up, she also had the chance to watch the women’s game evolve first-hand, while still being influenced by the men’s side of the sport which she followed as a fan.

“The men’s game, you watch them in the EUROs and other competitions,” she explained. “But with the women, it came later on, especially the 2015 World Cup. Being in and around the women’s game and knowing some of the players from Arsenal, it was nice to see them play for England too.”

Her inspiration also came much closer to home, through players she watched at Arsenal, along with England internationals she would later go on to share a dressing room with.

“We were always watching Rachel Yankey, Kelly Smith, Danielle Carter - all those other players at Arsenal,” she said. “And even some teammates now. I used to watch Fran Kirby when I was younger, and playing with her [at Brighton] is quite funny to see she’s still playing and doing well."

As her development continued, Agyemang also became familiar with England environments at youth level, where camps were as much about experience and enjoyment as they were about football.

And she boasted an impressive goalscoring record for the Young Lionesses - two in two for the WU16s; ten goals in 12 outings for the WU17s; eight in nine games for the WU19s and three goals in two caps for the WU23s.

“It was nice to do something different,” she said. “I think just having fun and seeing people you don’t see that often was nice, and going away from home to different countries and having that freedom to play for England with the youth teams.”

However, her pathway into the senior England set-up came unexpectedly while she was still involved the youth age groups. 

On duty with the Young Lionesses at St. George’s Park in April 2025, just three months out from the start of UEFA Women's EURO 2025, an injury to Alessia Russo created an opening for Agyemang, with Sarina Wiegman opting to call up the teenager for the first time.

“I was at St. George’s," she remembered. "I was here with U19s, and then the next thing I got a text from my coach saying we had a meeting at 10am.

“She said we were meeting Sarina and she just told me the news and said do I want to come? So, of course I wouldn’t say no.

“It was a really interesting call-up but I’m forever grateful for that memory.”

And Agyemang found comfort in familiar faces within the squad.

“It was quite daunting at first,” she said. “It helped that a few girls I knew from Arsenal were there, and some of the girls I had seen around the youth ages. It was nice and they were all very welcoming and easy to adapt.”

Her first involvement with the senior team followed soon after.

Thrown in at the deep end, the Lionesses travelled to Leuven to take on Belgium in the Nations League. Introduced off the bench with around ten minutes of the contest remaining, she found the back of the net just 41 seconds into her debut.

“It was very interesting - it was very short," she said. "I came in on matchday minus-two and only had one training session so it was a bit last minute. I enjoyed it, but it was just very last minute.

“I just remember being on the side, coming on as a sub. I don’t even remember hitting the ball. It’s funny looking back at it now."

Her experience at UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 marked another major step in her journey, receiving the call-up to be a part of Wiegman's squad after impressing the boss.

“When being selected for the EUROs, we had just finished our camp in Spain and we were in Barcelona,” she said. “Then I got a call a couple of days later from Sarina. I was a bit nervous but excited when she broke the news.”

“She said that I had done well and she wanted to put me in the squad and thought I could help the team out."

From a late equaliser against Sweden in the quarter-final to an even later leveller against Italy to force the semi-final tie to extra time and help England to reach the final, it was a summer to remember in Switzerland.

And Agyemang didn't go unnoticed, winning the young player of the tournament at the end of it all.

“It was amazing," she noted. "I’ve never experienced anything like it. It was completely different to any youth age groups I’ve done.

“To see the amount of fans that came out to support us was amazing. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“My life transitioned from that quite a bit, especially after the knockout games. It took us from here to greater and greater heights, which was really nice to see.”

And despite suffering an ACL injury in October last year, Agyemang's road to recovery is well underway and today's announcement that she will be awarded an MBE for her services to football marks another chapter in an exciting story that is already writing itself.