Bronze going back to her North East roots with England

Lucy Bronze is relishing a return to her native North East when England take on Sweden in Hartlepool on Sunday 3 August.

The 22-year-old is in line to be included in Mark Sampson’s final squad for the mouth-watering clash at Victoria Park.

And after representing her country at Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Brighton and Millwall in the last 12 months, Alnwick-raised Bronze can’t wait to get back to her roots.

She said: “It’s as close a game as I’ll get to Alnwick so my whole family are going to organise a bus down to the game.

“I’m pretty much up in Scotland but Hartlepool’s only about an hour away so to have this game so close to home is brilliant, especially for my family – my mum got an airplane all the way down to Bournemouth when we played Belarus.

“Most of my family live in Newcastle so it’s a lot closer for them and they will all be there – my mum will make sure of it!”

Bronze is one of six England regulars who hail from the North East – and every one of them came through the ranks at Sunderland.

The Liverpool defender believes the geography of the North East makes the area unique in terms of the way players are scouted and developed.

Bronze explained: “In terms of football the North East is completely different to anywhere else.

“There are so many clubs in London and in and around Birmingham, but there aren’t too many the further north you go, certainly where I’m from. I had to travel for an hour to get to a team when I was younger.

“The likes of Arsenal and Chelsea would have hundreds of girls to pick from, but there wouldn’t be that many girls playing in the North East.

“But that’s changing now with Sunderland and Durham playing in The FA WSL.

“When Sunderland would get a good batch of players they would coach them through to the first team and that’s what happened with me, Jordan [Nobbs], Demi [Stokes] and Jill [Scott], Steph [Houghton] and Carly [Telford] before us.”

Bronze, the current PFA Player of the Year, scored her first international goal in the 3-0 World Cup qualifying win in Belarus in June.

The centre back also played in the 2-1 victory over Ukraine four days later and those two results leaves England on the cusp of next summer’s finals in Canada.

Sampson’s side need just a point from their final two qualifiers, against Wales and Montenegro, to seal top spot in Group 6 – and Bronze says the Swedes, ranked fifth in the world, will provide an ideal challenge, should the Three Lions qualify.

She added: “Sweden are one of the top two or three sides in Europe so everyone is looking forward to playing them.

“If you want to win a Euros or a World Cup you need to beat the likes of Sweden and Germany, so to play them in a friendly will be a really good test.

“We have been expected to win our qualifiers but the odds will be against us with Sweden so it’s a different test for us, exactly one that we need.”

Sampson will announce his final squad a week before the game.

Tickets for the match are on sale now priced £5 for adults and £2.50 for children. A family ticket (two adults and two children) is available at £10 and group booking discounts apply.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 01429 272 584 (option 2), via TheFA.com's ticketing page or at the Hartlepool United ticket office.

England's long squad:

Goalkeepers
Karen Bardsley (Manchester City), Siobhan Chamberlain (Arsenal), Rachel Brown-Finnis (Everton), Carly Telford (Notts County)

Defenders
Gemma Bonner (Liverpool), Sophie Bradley (Notts County), Lucy Bronze (Liverpool), Alex Greenwood (Everton), Steph Houghton (Manchester City), Alex Scott (Arsenal), Casey Stoney (Arsenal), Demi Stokes (University of South Florida), Claire Rafferty (Chelsea)

Midfielders
Anita Asante (Malmo), Laura Bassett (Chelsea), Jade Moore (Birmingham City), Jill Scott (Manchester City), Fara Williams (Liverpool), Jo Potter (Birmingham City), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal)

Forwards
Karen Carney (Birmingham City), Dunia Susi (Notts County), Eniola Aluko (Chelsea), Jess Clarke (Notts County), Gemma Davison (Liverpool), Natasha Dowie (Liverpool), Toni Duggan (Manchester City), Fran Kirby (Reading), Lianne Sanderson (Boston Breakers), Kelly Smith (Arsenal), Jodie Taylor (Washington Spirit), Danielle Carter (Arsenal).