Neville’s Old Trafford date

England will play the first game as hosts of next year’s Women’s European Championship at Old Trafford, to the delight of manager Phil Neville, who wants his players to embrace the pressure it will bring.

Neville spent the best years of his playing career at Manchester United and he hopes the move to the big stadiums in the summer of 2021 will bring out the best in his players.

The Football Association has been criticised for having no games north of Manchester at the Euros, although it has tried to shift the blame on to local councils in the North East, but the decision to begin the tournament outside of London will be welcomed.

“It will be amazing,” said Neville, who takes England to the United States next week to defend their SheBelieves Cup title. “It is a brave and correct decision by the FA, to say the game has gone so far so let’s take it to a bigger place. If you want to play for England and be successful, those are the types of occasions that you should be excited about, motivated for and dream about.”

Having taken his team to the semifinals of the World Cup last year, Neville will be expecting them to make the final of the Euros, at the very least.

“It’s at home, we should be seeing it as a massive advantage for our players to go out there with 75,000 England supporters.

“What we have to do now is expose our players to big occasions so when they come to Old Trafford it’s just like another occasion – it’s like going into your grandmother’s front room and having a cup of tea.

“I think it’s easier to sell – going to a game at Old Trafford – because there’s that excitement,” Neville added.