Paupers who are now England’s golden girls

ENGLAND’S Jill Scott spoke last week about having to tap up her mum for £50 to put petrol in the car just so she could get to training.

As recently as four or five years ago the Wearside lass was far from on her own in such hardship – that sort of story was commonplace among the Lionesses.

Talk to the likes of Casey Stoney, Sue Smith and Rachel Brown-finnis and they’ll tell you the money struggle was all too real.

All the demands of representing your country, without the financial reward.

They had to balance the glory against the need to put food on the table – and this in a country where football is revered as the nation’s leading sport.

Now, you might say it’s only the

No.1 as far as the men are concerned.

And you might ask if Harry Kane’s struggle to the summit was really any less worthy than Scott’s?

He had his own hills to climb. Heading to Leyton Orient on loan isn’t the kind of excitement that keeps young boys awake at night.

But the point is there was always a potential pot of gold at the end of Harry’s rainbow.

He knew that if he ever did end up playing for Tottenham, or captaining his country, there would never be any difficulty meeting his household bills.

In contrast, women like Scott who pulled on the England shirt did so with that worry still at the back of their minds.

With each passing year, the number of professional female footballers who fully experienced the old days grows smaller.

It’s important that the lived experiences of Scott, now 35, and of her contemporaries, aren’t forgotten.

The decision taken by the Football Association to invest in the women’s game has been one of the most significant in a generation.

And they deserve massive credit for doing so. Setting up – and financing – a league to the point where sufficient interest has been generated for a satellite broadcaster to pay for the TV rights, has lifted the women’s game to another level.

It’s now in the position where the top international players are earning small sixfigure salaries.

It’s great for the likes of my own daughter to see these players becoming stars in their own right.

Yes, there have been high-profile female role models in athletics and other sports. The likes of Jess Ennis-hill, for example. Swimming has thrown up others, such as Rebecca Adlington.

It is to be hoped that Emma Raducanu’s professional tennis career delivers more than one fairytale.

But during the course of the next fortnight, English football could have something huge, and hugely significant, to celebrate.

There is no fear factor with these Lionesses.

Whatever head coach Sabrina Wiegman has done, she has certainly removed that – and instilled new confidence throughout a group of players that looks capable of creating history. And if that happens, the opportunity will be there to grow the game on again, increase interest and participation.

If it does, I hope the foundations built by the likes of Scott, Casey, Brown-finnis and the rest are remembered by such as Chloe Kelly, Lauren Hemp, skipper Leah Williamson and the rest of that new generation of stars.

They will go on to enjoy the financial fruits of their labour for years. Good on ’em.

But their future has been shaped by the sacrifices of those who went before them – and the women’s game in this country will only be stronger if that is never forgotten.

The decision by the FA to invest in the women’s game has been one of the most significant in a generation and they deserve massive credit for doing so