FORMER READING FC PLAYERS FEATURE AS ENGLAND WOMEN WIN EURO 2022

TWO former Reading FC players featured as England Women made history by winning Euro 2022.

The Lionesses etched themselves into the record books by being crowned as the European Champions in front of a record breaking crowd of more than 87,000 at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

Reading born Fran Kirby, who attended Maiden Erlegh school, scored England’s fourth goal in the Lionesses 4-0 win in the semi-finals against Sweden.

Kirby started every game in the tournament including the final before she was taken off in the second-half.

Goalkeeper Mary Earps who enjoyed a sensational tournament and conceded just two goals in the entire competition spent two years with the Royals.

Earps played 34 games league games for Reading from 2016-2018 before moving to German giants Wolfsburg.

She is now the number one goalkeeper for both England and Manchester United.

Kirby, who was born in Reading, rose up through the youth ranks with the Royals.

She joined the club at age seven and made her senior debut for Reading at 16.

Kirby, who also attended local school Maiden Erlegh, burst onto the scene in Reading’s first team and scored a remarkable 68 goals in 42 league appearances for the Royals.

She moved to Chelsea in 2015 and netted 54 goals in 85 games for the Blues.

Kirby has won a plethora of honours during her career including two PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year Awards, four WSL titles and three FA Cups.

Speaking after the final, Kirby said: “I can’t put into words how I feel. I’m super proud of everyone who has eben part of this journey; the team, the staff members, everyone who has contributed to us being here, it’s all for them.

“It was a really tough game. Germany are an amazing team with some amazing players and we knew it would be tough but we got there in the end.

“It’s horrible sitting on the bench because all you can do is hope that the girls are going to pull through but they did that and the girls that came on massively helped and I’m proud to be part of this journey.

“Hopefully we can take this into the league and generate the crowds and get people interested in women’s football.”