She Kicks Back: Croydon’s Cover Star (Tara Proctor)

Part of the She Kicks Back 25th-anniversary feature, revisiting Croydon’s cover star from the first issue of On the Ball, which caught Tara Proctor shielding the ball from Liverpool’s Leanne Taylor in the 25th Women’s FA Cup final. Then 25 and in her first season at the south London club, Proctor would win not only the cup but the National Premier League title nine days and five matches later, and later a second double in 2000 and the England captaincy at EURO 2001. She recalls walking the pitch with goalkeeper Louise Cooper, spotting two scraps of paper in their kit colours and taking it as an omen. She regrets the shoot-out finish, having friends in the Liverpool side, describes changing her mind on her penalty and being saved by a teenage Rachel Brown-Finnis, and remembers her mother drinking champagne from the cup.