When England played at the Women's World Cup in 2019, Ella Toone was a fan. The Manchester United midfielder travelled out to France to support the Lionesses from the stands, hoping that one day she could live the dream of representing her country on the biggest stage of all. Four years on, she'll do exactly that this summer in Australia and New Zealand, hoping to deliver World Cup glory after being part of that incredible Euro 2022 triumph.
It'll be a different experience for a lot of reasons. First of all, it's not a home tournament this time around. In fact, England will be around 10,000 miles away from the millions of fans cheering them on from the comfort of their living rooms. There are personnel differences, too. Seven players in the Lionesses' squad weren't involved last summer, with injuries meaning Beth Mead, Fran Kirby and captain Leah Williamson will all be missing.
"Obviously, it's heartbreaking for Leah and for all of us, we were all gutted to find out the news," Toone told GOAL on the latest episode of Box to Box, speaking about the ACL injury that England's leader suffered in April. "We send all of our love and and best wishes to her. It was difficult news to hear and you don't want to hear that about anyone, any player. Hopefully we can get more research into that and hope that it doesn't happen again. But we'll make sure that the Lionesses who do go out to the World Cup make her proud."
A lot of other things have changed in the last year, too. The profile of the women's game in England has grown immensely after the national team's success at the Euros. It means there is more interest than ever before and that has given Toone, a lifelong Man Utd fan, more chances to play at Old Trafford for her club, something she says is always a "special occasion".
There number of fans is growing, too, so much so that it's difficult for the players to interact with them all after games. The England midfielder says that is a big reason why she's so active on TikTok, to reach as many as possible, and it's led to some pretty surreal scenarios. From her nan going viral to a fan sticking a free chocolate bar on a sign for her, Toone discusses it all on the latest episode of Box to Box.
Check out the full episode of Box to Box on the official Indivisa YouTube channel.