Ballon D’Or target for star Beth

Whitby’s European Championship winner Beth Mead has been nominated for the Ballon D’Or Feminin.

Mead’s Lionesses teammates Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze are also among the nominees for the prestigious award.

Whitby-born Mead was the top scorer and named player of the tournament as England triumphed on home soil last month.

The Arsenal Ladies hotshot has had a superb 12 months, also setting a new goalscoring record for England, eclipsing a long-lasting record set by the legendary Jimmy Greaves.

When Mead scored twice in the 5-1 demolition of Holland they were her 13th and 14th goal for her country since the start of the 2021/22 season, meaning she broke a 61-year record held by Greaves for the most international goals scored in one season.

Mead went onto finish top-scorer at the Euros with six goals, her five assists seeing her claim the award ahead of Germany striker Alexandra Popp.

She is the first player to score in every group game in the finals for England, with five in total including a winner in the opening match against Austria and a treble in the 8-0 demolition of Norway.

Earlier in the season, the forward also became the first England woman to score a hat-trick for her country at Wembley Stadium, in a 5-0 rout of Northern Ireland.

Mead will return to Women's Premier League action with Arsenal ladies on September 11.