Women’s Super League

WITH the Lionesses roaring into the World Cup final for the first time, manager Sarina Wiegman is celebrating her own record-breaking achievement.The former PE teacher has become the first manager to take two national teams all the way to the final — having coached her native Netherlands through the tournament in 2019.
Sarina Weigman has become the first manager to take two national teams all the way to the World Cup finalCredit: Getty
Former England players have said the key to Sarina’s success is how much she gets to know her playersCredit: Getty
Sarina, who as a child disguised herself as a boy to play in her local team, is now being talked about as a possible successor to Gareth Southgate as manager of the England men’s team.
FA boss Mark Bullingham confirmed that it was considering appointing a woman when Southgate’s contract expires at the end of next year, saying: “It’s the best person for the job. If that best person is a woman then why not?”
And those who have trained under mum-of-two Sarina, a three-time winner of Fifa Women’s Coach of the Year, reckon she is well qualified.
Ellen White, part of last year’s Euros-winning squad, says the key to Sarina’s success is how much she gets to know her players.
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Ellen, 34, said: “We needed someone to bring everyone’s strengths together on and off the pitch and allow them to be free to express themselves.
“Sarina is a genuinely lovely person that shows a lot of empathy. She wants to know you on a human level, not just as a player. She has conversations with you about your family.
“Her communication levels are on another level to what we have experienced before. It’s the fact she knows each player individually and knows what makes them tick.”
True grit
But what sets Sarina apart is also her true grit — born from a lifetime of fighting for her place in a sporting world dominated by men.
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Sarina, who learned her skills playing against boys when girls’ football was banned in the Netherlands, led the charge for women to be paid professionals in the country.
Dutch player Leonne Stentler said: “She tried to fight for that at every moment. She saw our progression was going so fast that it would be possible some day that we would be full-time professional players.
“She had to fight for everything. She was trying to break through every wall.”
That fighting spirit was awakened early in her childhood in The Hague when she discovered a love of football alongside twin brother Tom.
As her country banned girls from the pitch, she cut her hair short to look more like a boy, so she could play alongside her sibling in the local team, ESDO.
Despite the ban, her parents supported her dreams.
She recalled: “As a little girl, when I was five or six, girls were not allowed to play football, but I just liked football and my parents never made any fuss. They just said, ‘If you want to play football, you’re going to play football’.”
A breakthrough then came in the 1970s, as Uefa made all of its member nations invest in women’s football and Sarina was able to move to HSV Celeritas, which had a female team.
As a child, Sarina disguised herself as a boy to play in her local teamCredit: Twitter
At the age of 18, Sarina was part of the Netherlands squadCredit: PA
Despite her obvious talent, the barriers to women were so entrenched Sarina never saw it as a possible career.
She said: “I knew in elementary school that I wanted to be a PE teacher. That’s very strange, too, but I just wanted to be involved in sports.
“I didn’t know I could be a coach because there was nothing for women in football — I couldn’t see it, so I didn’t think that it was an opportunity.”
In 1987, the midfielder joined the Delft club KFC 71, winning the national cup the same year and was selected to play for her country.
A year later, at the age of 18, she was part of the Netherlands squad invited by Fifa to compete in the Women’s Invitation Trophy, a precursor of the World Cup, in China.
While there, she caught the eye of Anson Dorrance, the manager of the US Women’s Team and head coach at the University of North Carolina, who offered her a sports scholarship and a place in the university’s Tar Heels women’s soccer team.
The secondment to the US, where women’s football was on the up, was a turning point, making her more determined to make her mark in her homeland.
“It was an absolute trigger for me,” she said. “I thought: ‘If I can contribute in the Netherlands, to create what is in the US in the Netherlands, I would be a happy person.’ It took 20 years.”
On her return, she worked as a PE teacher at Segbroek College in The Hague, a job she kept throughout her playing career.
She trained with the men at ADO Den Haag several times a week and eventually joined the women’s team of Ter Leede, where she played for nine years, helping them to win two league titles and the Dutch cup, while also earning 104 caps for her country.
As captain of the team, her leadership skills were clear — as well as her need to nurture the players who, unlike their male counterparts, were not paid professional wages.
Teammate Jeanet van der Laan recalled: “She was pretty loud in the dressing room and very confident about her qualities.
“Sarina came to visit me because she wanted to see where I lived.
“I only had a washing machine and not a dryer.
“She asked me, ‘How are you going to do this? You have to train, practise almost every day. How are you going to dry your gear?’.
“I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t have any money’. So, she gave me her tumble dryer. And that’s something I will never forget.”
Sarina, who is married to childhood sweetheart and sports lecturer Marten Glotzbach, retired from the pitch to start a family at 33, and had daughters Sacha and Lauren.
While still working as a PE teacher, she returned to the club as its coach, winning the double in her first season — and continued to fight for the rights of women players.
When the Dutch women’s league, Eredivisie, was launched in 2007, she was asked to coach a new team for Ado Den Haag on a part-time basis but she refused until they gave her a full-time job.
She became the first female coach at a Dutch professional football organisation when she joined Sparta Rotterdam.
Host of honours
In 2014, she became the assistant coach of the Dutch women’s team but turned down the top job a year later. “Sarina only begins a new adventure when she’s ready for it,” explained husband Marten.
In 2017, she agreed to take over as head coach and, in one of the first team meetings, she handed players an article entitled “Thirteen things you should give up if you want to be successful”.
Sarina celebrated with the Lionesses after dispatching Australia 3-1 in Sydney to reach England’s first World Cup FinalCredit: Getty
Included on the list was, “Give up your need to be liked”.
It’s a philosophy that Dutch former player Leonne Stentler says the single-minded coach lives by.
She said: “Sarina is someone who has a goal and just tries to reach that goal.
“To anything else, she’s just . . .  blind is not the right word, but she doesn’t let anyone or anything change her mind or influence her.”
The approach worked — as she guided the Netherlands to their first Euros win in 2017, earning Sarina a host of honours, including being named Best Fifa Women’s Coach and a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.
She followed it by taking the Dutch team to a runners-up medal at the 2019 World Cup, following which she became the first woman to be honoured with a statue at the Dutch Football Association.
But a year after the World Cup triumph she disappointed her home fans by agreeing to take over from Phil Neville as head coach of the Lionesses, saying: “Why not? I only want to work at the top. I wouldn’t be happy with any less.”
A brilliant tactician, Sarina has turned around the fortunes of the England team, who have lost just one match out of 38 under her stewardship.
While she nurtures her players, she also has a ruthless streak, and caused controversy by leaving England captain Steph Houghton out of this year’s World Cup squad because of injury.
As she heads to her second World Cup final as a national coach, she says winning is not as im­portant as changing the perception of women’s football — and creating opportunities she was denied as a child.
Sarina said: “I really love the medals but what I’m proud of most is that now young girls have perspective, young girls can play football and young girls can wear shirts [with players’ names on].
“When you go to the grocery store and people tell you, ‘My daughter was wearing that shirt but my son is wearing that shirt now too’, we’ve changed society.
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“That’s the change I’m proud of the most. I didn’t have opportunities. I have two daughters, they played football in mixed teams when they were younger, and it was normal.
“Things are changing, but there is still a long way to go.”
Sarina Wiegman, second from left on bottom row, as a girl in her local football team in the Hague
Sarina retired from the pitch to start a family at 33, and had daughters Sacha and Lauren with husband MartenCredit: sarina.wiegman/instagram More

AT 11, Alessia Russo was tipped as a future England star by goalscoring great Kelly Smith – and now, 13 years later, she really is making the Lionesses roar.The World Cup forward, who scored the winning goal against Colombia on Saturday to take England into the semi-finals, has been dubbed the “golden girl” of the Women’s Super League.
Alessia Russo has been dubbed the ‘golden girl’ of the Women’s Super LeagueCredit: MARK CANT/Women’s Health UK
Alessia in her new Arsenal strip having left Man Utd in a shock transferCredit: Getty
Alessia with her mum, dad and brotherCredit: Instagram @alessiarusso99
The 24-year-old had already cemented her place in the nation’s hearts with a spectacular backheel goal for England in last year’s Euros semi-final against Sweden which was named the Goal of the Tournament.
Now, a month after her transfer to Arsenal from Manchester United, Alessia — known to her family as Lessi — is lighting up the World Cup too.
And she’s going for gold as well as goals.
Factoring in commercial deals with such brands as Adidas, Gucci, PlayStation and Beats by Dre, she is now thought be the first WSL player to earn more than £1million a year.
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With celeb fans such as David Beckham — and his daughter Harper — she is already such a national treasure that her boots have been displayed in the Tower of London.
Colin Whitfield, a former coach at Bearsted FC in Kent, where she began her footie career, told The Sun she is inspiring a new generation.
He said: “The girls in particular all want to be the next Alessia Russo. She has inspired lots of people, not just at Bearsted.
“There’s a real sense of excitement off the back of her success. I can’t see it ever disappearing.”
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The Kent-born striker’s rise to the top was on the cards from a young age.
Coming from Sicilian stock, Alessia grew up in Maidstone in a sporting family — policeman dad Mario played for Met Police FC and coached local kids, brother Giorgio played for non-league team Ramsgate and younger brother Luca represented England in under-20s track and field events.
Mum Carol recently recalled Alessia as a “cute three-year-old dancing in a tutu” but added that she had been desperate to ditch ballet because she wanted to go to football training with her dad and brothers.
Coach Mario revealed he had got “strange looks” from other parents when he moved his daughter from the girls’ to the boys’ team after spotting her potential.
At St Simon Stock Catholic School in Maidstone, Alessia’s star quality was clear, and former head teacher John Malone and PE teacher Claire Brown recall she was a “driven” pupil who “already had the mindset of a great sporting star”.
John told Good Morning Britain: “She played for the girls’ team but also, up to a certain age, girls can play for the boys’ team.
“Her reputation was out there in the community. So PE departments from other schools would be calling us on the match day to say, ‘Is that girl playing for you this evening?’.
“If the answer was yes, they knew that they were going to lose.”
From the age of eight, Alessia trained at Charlton Athletic’s academy, where in 2006 she was led on to the pitch as a mascot by Casey Stoney, who would later become her boss at Manchester United.
Offered a contract by Chelsea just as she was considering university, she opted to take a soccer scholarship at the University of North Carolina, where her brother Luca was already studying on an athletic scholarship.
Her first-year roommate was fellow England player Lotte Wubben-Moy.
Sporting star
Her university coach Anson Dorrance — who also trained Lioness Lucy Bronze — told a newspaper: “Players usually slow down in shooting practice to achieve more accuracy.
“But Alessia never did that, she always played the game. She always went 100mph to try and score a goal, even in an exercise. Russo trained ruthlessly to become the player she is and she’s going to keep getting better.
“So even to this day I use examples of my great players, Alessia certainly being one of them, to help my current players become elite.”
Always a star of the England youth teams, once scoring five goals in one match against Croatia aged 17, she was called up to the senior squad in February 2020.
Seven months later, on her return from the States, the life-long Manchester United supporter was snapped up by the Red Devils.
Last month, when she left after three years to join Arsenal, she reflected on how it had always been her dream to play at Old Trafford.
She said: “If I ever picture myself as a little girl, I’m wearing a United shirt with a ball glued to my feet. If someone told that little girl she’d represent the club one day, create so many memories and score at Old Trafford, I can’t imagine how she’d contain the excitement.”
Alessia has also revealed her health struggles, telling Women’s Health magazine: “In lockdown, it was tough. I was training on my own, I was home and I lost quite a bit of weight.
“Then I signed for Man United soon after lockdown and within about six weeks, I completely tore my hamstring, which I could only relate back to losing a lot of weight because I’ve never had a muscle injury before.
“[My diet] was high in protein but I was sacrificing all the carbs and the fats. I used to track everything.
“I was at a low point with my food and with my weight. I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t robust. I thought I looked great but really, on the football pitch, I wasn’t strong enough to compete.”
While at United, Alessia went on to become United’s top scorer, earning an estimated £35,000 to £45,000 a year, rising to more than £60,000 in her third year, as well as bonuses for goals and winning matches, placing her among the WSL’s highest earners.
Her income was boosted by her call-up to the Lionesses, with each player paid £2,000 per game for an average of 11 a year.
Winning the 2022 European Championship brought the elite players into a whole new ball park for earnings, with each of the Lionesses receiving a £50,000 bonus.
They were also paid £430 a day to take part, for a total of 37 days, meaning a pay cheque of £15,910.
Along with the Arnold Clark Cup and the Finalissima tournament, each player banked around £88,000, claims sport website The Athletic.
With Euros glory still fresh in fans’ minds, Alessia was already hot property when she joined Arsenal, who signed her on a free transfer after being knocked back with a world-record bid, estimated to be around £500,000, in January.
Alessia, who has 567,000 followers on Instagram, can expect to cash in on her fame with commercial deals worth six figures.
This month, boot sponsor Adidas selected her as one of five players to promote its Champion The Girls initiative, aimed at preventing teenage girls from dropping out of sport, and she appeared alongside David Beckham in a campaign for the brand as well as modelling its Gucci collaboration range.
After her spectacular Euros goal against Sweden, Adidas displayed her green boots among the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, declaring her a “national treasure”.
Her advertising earnings are thought to be between £300,000 and £500,000 a year and estimates suggest Alessia earned almost £4,000 from sponsored Instagram posts in the first quarter of 2023, bettered only by England team-mates Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead and captain Leah Williamson.
Her earnings from social media are expected to have doubled in the run-up to the World Cup.
PR expert Nick Ede said: “Alessia Russo is a breakout star and with her athletic good looks she can command millions this year.
“She’s already an ambassador for numerous brands and I can see her expanding this into more luxury and beauty territories.”
Other schools would call us to ask if she was playing …and if the answer was yes they knew they were going to lose.Former teacher John Malone
With their sights on the World Cup, the Lionesses stand to earn even more.
Fifa has guaranteed that every player competing in the tournament will be paid at least £23,500, with every winning player receiving at least £213,000.
Despite Alessia’s success, many in the world of football praise her lack of arrogance.
Man United’s Leah Galton said: “She works extremely hard and she’s one of the nicest people off the pitch I think I’ve ever met.”
David Beckham and 12-year-old daughter Harper enjoyed a chat with Alessia, hosted by Adidas, before England’s World Cup game against Haiti last month.
Afterwards Alessia said: “He’s been one of my idols ever since I was a little girl.
“That’s probably one of my biggest highlights, having a normal conversation with someone you used to watch on the world stage when you were younger.
“It was amazing and he was really nice, a bit of a pinch-me moment in terms of what women’s sport is doing. It’s special to hear that Harper is a huge fan.
“He said we should never lose sight of what we are doing as a team, which was really cool because we’re all in the moment in terms of all we see and competing every day on the pitch. The impact you have away from that is what’s really special to hear.”
But Alessia’s biggest fans are still her devoted family, and earlier this month, as she left for the World Cup in Oz, mum Carol posted an emotional tribute to “Lessi”.
She said: “The day is finally here, I can’t believe you’re off to your first senior World Cup.
“How exciting. It only seems like yesterday you were that cute little three-year-old, dancing around in your tutu but desperate to give it all up so you could join football coaching with Daddy and play football with Luca and Giorgio.
“We had no idea, did we, that it would lead to all this?
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“You’re living your dream and doing what you love, and shining like our little superstar.”

7.2M see triumph on telly
THE Lionesses’ 2-1 World Cup win over Colombia was seen on TV by 7.2million delighted fans.
The quarter-final match drew the tournament’s highest audience so far and was ITV’s second biggest peak audience this year, behind the Grand National.
England’s win secured a place in the semi-finals against tournament co-hosts Australia on Wednesday.
And if they beat the Aussies they will then face the winner of the match between Sweden and Spain in Sunday’s final.
Colombia match winner Alessia said the England team celebrated reaching the semi-finals with a trip to see dolphins.
On the outing, her team-mate Ella Toone jokily threw a yabby – a type of crayfish – into Lessi’s lap, causing her to fall off a wall.
And she revealed there was already some friendly rivalry between the England squad and the host nation ahead of Wednesday’s big match in Sydney.
Arsenal striker Alessia told the England Football YouTube channel: “Some Aussie couple came up to us and said, ‘Congratulations for last night. Good luck for Wednesday – but not too much luck’.
“I think everyone is looking forward to it and so are we as players. It makes it even more exciting that you’re playing the hosts.
“We know it’s going to be packed out, so yes, just buzzing for it.”

Triumphant Alessia in England’s defeat of ColombiaCredit: Rex
Adidas selected Alessia as one of five players to promote its Champion The Girls initiativeCredit: ADIDAS
Alessia also has a deal with Beats by Dre
Young talent Alessia as a footie-mad childCredit: INSTAGRAM/ALESSIA RUSSO
Mascot Alessia with Casey Stoney in 2006
Alessia takes a tumble and falls off a wall More