Steph Houghton & Jill Scott

Steph Houghton and Jill Scott perfected their technique at their local Sunderland football club, dribbling balls and running circuits around the Stadium of Light when they were teenagers. They braved biting wind and mulchy fields in the mornings, goosepimpled legs streaked with mud and grass.

Steph played in the under-16 team at 9 years old and Jill played for a boys’ team when she was 7, where she won the Man of the Match trophy. ‘They wanted to change the inscription to Girl of the Match,’ she said, ‘but I kicked up a fuss and didn’t let them change it – I didn’t want anyone to think I’d won because I was the only girl on the team.’ She got teased for playing football when she was young, but she tightened her boots and stormed onto the pitch, her ponytail swinging with the force of her strides.

Both women went on to play for Manchester City, training through the days in their sky-blue shirts. Steph was a top goal-scorer in the 2012 Olympics and played in the European Championship 3 times. They tackled their way to the top and played for England in the 2019 world cup, defending their team through the musky French summer. Steph wrapped her Captain armband tightly around her bicep and led the Lionesses into the semi-final.

Both players support young women who dream of playing football. They want to help them break down barriers and defy convention in the sporting world. ‘My role models were Kevin Phillips and David Beckham,’ said Steph, ‘and now girls can look up to female footballers and aspire to be them and try to follow in their footsteps and be even better than us.’