Ella Toone’s high school coach says ‘she was a born winner’ as he predicts a World Cup final win for England – but Lucy Bronze’s teacher reveals why he’s hoping it doesn’t reach penalties

England’s Lionesses face Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday
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Ella Toone’s high school coach has insisted ‘she was a born winner’ ahead of England’s World Cup final match, while Lucy Bronze’s teacher has revealed why he’s hoping it doesn’t reach penalties.

Simon Rigby, who was Ella’s PE teacher at Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, chatted to This Morning today before the Lionesses crunch game against Spain on Sunday.

Recalling the footballer, now 23, during her school years, he said: ‘She was always doing something in sport, she was always at the PE office, she was always… had a ball at her feet or in her hand.’

Lucy Bronze’s primary school headteacher Julian Tyley also remembered the defender’s ‘great talent at all sports’. However, he admitted he’s hoping the match doesn’t go to penalties this weekend.

He recalled a sporting competition during Lucy’s school years which saw her score just two out of five penalties – despite expectations that she’d make all five goals.

Mr Tyley said: ‘It was a funny situation, we took part every year in a district sports competition, which was essentially athletics, the children took part in about 10 or 12 different activities and Lucy got maximum marks in every event.

‘Until it came to penalty shoot outs and everyone thought that she’d score five out of five penalties but as it turned out she only scored two, but even so it was still good enough for her to win the trophy for the outstanding girl in the competition.’

Offering his prediction for Sunday’s game, he added: ‘I think it’s going to be a tight one, I just hope it doesn’t go to penalties.’

He added that it’s a ‘huge sense of pride’ to see Lucy in the World Cup final, saying: ‘Thinking back to 20 years ago, I’d never have dreamed that anything like this could’ve possibly happened.

‘Because in those days girls’ football wasn’t really considered important. There wasn’t the opportunity for girls to take part in football in a team… so it’s a huge sense of pride.’

Simon Rigby (pictured), who was Ella’s PE teacher at Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, chatted to This Morning today before the Lionesses crunch game against Spain on Sunday

Mr Tyley (pictured) said: ‘It was a funny situation, we took part every year in a district sports competition, which was essentially athletics, the children took part in about 10 or 12 different activities and Lucy got maximum marks in every event.’

Recalling Lucy’s time at school, he added: ‘She had a great talent at all sports. In every sport she took part in, she had a real enthusiasm, and when there was a chance for competition she absolutely thrived on it.’

Meanwhile, Mr Rigby, Ella’s former teacher, said he was ‘really, really pleased’ over England’s ‘remarkable achievement’ in this year’s World Cup.

He added that Ella was ‘really, really sporty’ during her time at high school, adding: ‘She took on any challenge that the PE department threw at her really. She was a born winner. she wanted to win at everything. She’s very competitive.

‘She was the only girl in the [school’s football] squad but it didn’t matter, she wanted to play football, she was certainly good enough to play football with the boys, she was better than quite a few of them actually and she did really well.’

He said the boys on the team ‘accepted her wholeheartedly’ because ‘they knew she could play football, first and foremost, and her actions spoke louder than her words.’

The coach explained that Ella is ‘very grounded and very family orientated’, before predicting that the match would result in a 1-0 win for England.

England’s Lionesses face Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday. Pictured left, Ella, and pictured right, Lucy

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