England

The FA send scouts to Centre of Excellence matches regularly and, if you have ambitions to play for England, a Centre of Excellence therefore tends to be the place to be.  In the last seven years, over 20 BCLFC players have played for an England team and there will be information available at the Open Day about how these players went from junior players in local sides on to the International stage.

Club captain, Laura Bassett (who will be at the Open Day) was the first BCLFC player to play for the England senior team with Karen Carney and Eniola Aluko being two star England players to have come through BCLFC’s junior sides.  Further details on these and some other BCLFC players who have made the England grade are set out below.

Laura Bassett joined BCLFC a number of years ago and is captain of the First team as well helping to run the Centre of Excellence and being an U16s coach.  She has captained England’s U21s and is now a regular fixture in England’s senior squad, recently being called into yet another training squad following the recent draw against the Czech Republic.

Chelsea Weston joined BCLFC as an U12 and, although only just 18, has already travelled extensively as part of England’s U19s, including to La Manga and Chile plus played in a European final against Germany.  

Kerys Harrop joined BCLFC as an U10 in 2000 and, following an impressive performance in front of Hope Powell against Arsenal, has been called into England’s U19 squad alongside Chelsea in April. 

Sue Wood joined BCLFC as a junior player, is now Birmingham’s first choice goalkeeper and has made England junior squads on a number of occasions in that position.

Michelle Hickmott has played for BCLFC from the U12s through to the First Team (with a seasons away at Fulham and Charlton but she is back now). She has many appearances for England’s U19s and U21s and was captain of the U21s for a number of matches. She has also achieved call ups to the England senior squad.

Faye Cardin has also played for BCLFC from the U12s through to the First Team, returning this season after a spell at other clubs.  She played for England’s U19s in her previous stint at BCLFC.

Heather Scheuber, Dannii Bird and Becky Hall all joined BCLFC as First Team players and have regularly formed part of England squads at U19s, U21s and U23 levels.  They have all also scored England goals.

Katy Ward came back to BCLFC last season after a spell with Bristol. She has shown many of the characteristics that regularly got her a place in England’s junior teams including the U19s World Cup where she played in front of a crowd of 25,000 in Canada.

Sally Lacey joined BCLFC as a senior player and was regularly chosen for England’s senior and U21s training camps.  More recently she has decided to concentrate on her Premiership career and her forthcoming marriage in August.

Penny Andrea has played for BCLFC’s U16s and senior team and has been chosen in England’s U17 squad on a number of occasions.

Jo Fletcher came to BCLFC in 2004 and by the end of the season was chosen by Hope Powell to play in the first two of England’s matches in Euro 2005.

Alex Scott got her first call up to the full England squad in 2004 after joining BCLFC from Arsenal. She went on to be right back for all three of England’s matches in Euro 2005, starred in the World Cup and continues to be a first choice for England and back at Arsenal, where she scored the winning goal in the UEFA Cup Final last year.

Ellen Maggs joined BCLFC as a senior player in 2005 and has been regularly chosen for England’s U21 training camps and has made the senior England squad on occasions. She moved to Watford last season.

Amanda Barr, Josanne Potter (who currently coaches BCLFC’s U10s), Shelly Cox, Siobhan Chamberlain and Rachel Yankey are other examples of players who have played for one of the England teams during their time at BCLFC.

There are two final players who should not be forgotten. In the 2000/2001 season the Under 14s had an exceptional squad, which won the treble under Michael Moore who went on to manage the First Team for a spell. Among the players there were two who stood out and started to work incredibly hard to improve their strength and fitness during the summer of 2001. Neither have stopped working and have gone on to star for England in Euro 2005 and the 2007 World Cup in front of crowds of thousands in the stadia and millions on TV. These players are:

Karen Carney who joined BCLFC at the age of 11 and played for the club until the summer of 2006, when she moved to Arsenal and has since gone on to win the quadruple with them. She won Nationwide Young Player of the Year as a Blues player in 2005 and 2006 and her last minute winner against Finland was the defining moment of Euro 2005 for England. She continues to be part of Hope Powell’s first choice England team.

Eniola Aluko who joined BCLFC at an early age and played alongside Karen in the junior teams, both of them breaking into Birmingham’s senior squad at 14 and being fixtures there by the age of 16. She won Nationwide Young Player of the Year in 2003 and like Karen is now a regular first choice player in Hope Powell’s England team. Football is all about decisions and in 2004 Eni made a big decision to move to Charlton, a big London club. She went on to score the winning goal in the FA Cup Final in 2005 and both goals in the League Cup Final in 2006 subsequently moving on to Chelsea for the 2007/8 season.

Who knows if a young player will, one day, go on to play for England.  One thing is for sure though, the BCLFC Centre of Excellence Open Day on 31 May is a good place to start if this is your ambition and we hope to see you there!