England Women will travel to Canada for next month’s World Cup buoyed by a raft of good luck messages from over 200 young football participants from around the country.
Mark Sampson’s squad are in the middle of 10-day training camp at St. George’s Park, stepping up their preparations ahead of their opening match of the tournament – against France on Tuesday 9 June.
But they took some time out to inspect a giant flag presented to them by The FA National Game Youth Council – a body responsible for providing children and young people with a voice in the game.
England defender Alex Greenwood said: “I think it’s brilliant. It just shows how much support we are getting from people back at home.
“I used to write out stuff myself for the guys going away to the World Cup so it’s a nice feeling to know that they are doing it for us."
Luke Baker, Youth Council Regional Officer for the South East, added: “It’s really important that young people have role models.
“This is a really good chance for young people to have a direct voice with the senior teams.
“Sometimes there can appear to be that distance between grassroots football and elite football, but projects like this are here to shorten the distance between the two."
After the France match, England will complete their Group F campaign with matches against Mexico (13 June) and Colombia (17 June).
