Born Kicking: Sarah Dickson and Safia Bliss

Two young goalkeepers take the grassroots slot. Sarah Dickson is nine, lives outside Lurgan in Armagh, does not yet play for a team and plays at school with her friends. She likes the Northern Ireland women’s team, would most like to meet their captain Marissa Callaghan, and has already done so – Callaghan came to her school to tell her she had won the Electric Ireland Shooting for the Stars writing competition, with a story about a girl who danced her way to footballing success. Safia Bliss is eleven, from Lewes, and has just signed a third season with Brighton and Hove Albion. She puts her left glove on first, wants to control a backline the way Steph Houghton does, and credits Faye Baker with making her a goalkeeper.