Farewell to Two Lionesses

On 31st July 2022 England’s Lionesses defeated Germany to win the European Championships for the first time. The match was played at Wembley Stadium in London in front of a record crowd for either a Women’s or Men’s European Championship Football Match of 87,192 people.

I am sure many people reading this will have felt the joy if this triumph, I certainly did and being English myself made it all the more sweet.

However, in the time since that momentous day two very important players in the England side, Ellen White and Jill Scott, have decided to retire and end their Football careers.

Ellen White is 33 years old and made her England Debut back in 2010. She played 113 times for England and scored 52 goals which is a record for the England Women’s Team. Indeed, only Wayne Rooney has scored more goals for the senior England side. She also played 8 times for Great Britain in the 2012 and 2020 Olympics and scored a further 8 goals wearing the Union Jack of Great Britain rather than the Three Lions of England. She also made 217 appearances in her Club Career playing for Chelsea, Leeds, Arsenal, Notts County, Birmingham City and Manchester City.

Jill Scott made her England debut 4 years before Ellen White in 2006. She has retired aged 35 with 161 England Caps and only one Woman, Fara Williams, has more. She also scored 27 times in and England shirt and, like White, she also played for the Great Britain Women’s Football Team as well, scoring 1 goal in 9 appearances across the 2012 and 2020 Olympic Games. Scott and White played together for Manchester City and Scott has also played for Everton and Aston Villa, making 237 appearances and scoring 42 goals in her Club career. As a testament to her longevity, Jill Scott was the only member of the victorious England team in 2022 to have played the last time the Lionesses made it to the final of the European Championships when they lost 6-2 to Germany in 2009.

These two incredible players will be sorely missed by fans of England’s Lionesses but I am sure there is not a single one amongst them who would refrain from wishing them every success in whatever endeavor they take on next.