TOTTENHAM striker Bethany England led a very different life before becoming a professional footballer.
The 29-year-old Lioness worked in a chip shop in the early stages of her career while juggling A-Levels and playing for Doncaster Belles.
In 2011, England established herself as one to watch in the inaugural Women’s Super League season.
At the age of just 17 she became a first team regular at the highest level of women’s football in England.
However, she was being paid just £150-a-month – an amount that barely covered the cost of fuel when driving to and from training and games several times a week.
The striker subsequently had to find an extra job and she went on to work in a local chip shop for over three years.
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England worked two nights a week at the Wellington Street chippy in Barnsley alongside her twin sister, Laura.
And the former Chelsea star has revealed that she barely had time to sleep between shifts and football matches on the weekends.
She told England Football: “I ended up working for three-and-a-half years in a chippy, doing night shifts on a Friday and Saturday.
“It would start at around 10pm and finish at 5am to 6am. I would then have a couple of hours sleep and go straight to my football game, and then do the night shift whilst I was at college.
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“You’d be surprised how many people want fish and chips after a night out! It’s not for me.
“But it paid me through college, it paid for my driving lessons and everything. So, it got me where I needed to be.
“I’ve done all sorts. I’ve worked in a bakery, a factory, I’ve worked at M&S and I’ve worked in an Indian.”
The striker added: “As a Yorkshire girl, I love gravy but from a chippy, I actually prefer curry.
“I did either service or frying. At Easter time, we used to fry Creme Eggs. You couldn’t get battered Mars Bars and Snickers but we used to batter Creme Eggs. It sounds nasty, but you’d be surprised. It’s alright.”
Following her spell with Doncaster Belles, England went on to join Chelsea in 2016.
She spent seven years with the Blues before joining Tottenham at the beginning of this year.
And last month she was named as the club’s captain.
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England was a member of the Lionesses squad that won Euro 2022 last July.
She also featured in England’s run to the Women’s World Cup final this summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
