Born Kicking: Amelie Birchley and Daisy Elizabeth Rose Birds

Two young players share the Born Kicking slot. Ten-year-old Amelie Birchley of Gloucester City plays right wing, supports nobody in particular, would meet Messi and would play alongside Fran Kirby on the grounds that she is a girl-version of him. Nine-year-old Daisy Birds has just signed for Stockport County, supports Manchester City Women, and answers the invented question she wishes she had been asked: a coach came to her after-school club when she was seven, she had never played, and he did not believe her because she was good. She is deaf, names the GB Deaf Women’s captain first among her heroes, and says she feels lucky to play as an equal.