Beth England's first coach on her rise to World Cup semi-final

Beth England was a star player for Junior Tykes boys' team

As Barnsley-born Beth England prepared for a World Cup semi-final in Australia, one person back home knew better than most how far she had come.

Chris Dudley was coach of the Junior Tykes under-8 boys' team when the future Lionesses star - one of three girls in the side, including her twin sister Laura - lined up on a South Yorkshire playing field for her first ever match.

They lost 21-0 to a team called Spy Rangers.

The Tykes "were like rabbits in headlights," recalls Mr Dudley , who remains at the grassroots club as president. "It was a big shock to them, they start the first game and all of the sudden they're six or seven-nil down in the first 15 minutes."

But the team improved - winning a trophy the next season - and England's talent quickly became clear.

Two years after her inauspicious debut, she was named the under-10s player of the year three times - by her teammates, their parents and the coach.

"She was very special, and obviously she's proved that," Mr Dudley tells the BBC.

England has made 25 appearances for England and scored 11 goals

Tottenham star England, now 29, has long since traded the pitches of Barnsley's Wharncliffe Woodmoor Memorial Field - named after a 1936 mining disaster - for the Women's Super League.

But she has said the South Yorkshire town will "always" be her home town, recalling earlier this year: "It's where I first found my love for football and where I learned my trade from the very start."

Beth and Laura started playing for the Junior Tykes after being invited along by a boy who used to kick a football around the street outside their grandma's house

The boys "loved" having the sisters in their team, according to Mr Dudley.

"They were good players. They held their own, they weren't out of the place," the 64-year-old says.

England had "special" talent from a young age, her former coach said

Beth spent four or five years playing for the Tykes before moving to an all-girls team and being scouted by Sheffield United's girls academy.

At the age of 16 she joined Doncaster Belles, where she juggled training with A-levels and shifts at a Barnsley chippy.

"Which was great for me, because if I were ever hungry I got seen to very, very quickly," jokes Mr Godfrey.

After breaking into Doncaster's first team as a 17-year-old and helping them to promotion, Beth earned a move to then-Super League champions Chelsea, where she became a prolific goal-scorer before a big-money transfer to Tottenham earlier this year.

She was part of the Lionesses squad which was crowned Euro 2022 champions last year, after which the FA presented the Tykes with a plaque recognising their part in her development.

Mr Dudley is modest about his own contribution to England's career, saying: "I've had a very, very small part in it. Don't forget she's been to quite a few big clubs, professional coaches.

"She was always a determined girl, as you've seen with England. Not afraid to make decisions."

But he says she and the rest of the Lionesses have had a lasting impact on the Tykes, which now has five dedicated girls teams.

"We've seen since England ladies won the Euros just how much it means for young girls to be able to play football when you give them that opportunity," says Mr Godfrey.

"Beth and the England team have been a massive, massive input to our club. The boys ask as well, 'Is this where Beth England started?"'

Chris Dudley, president of the Junior Tykes, said he proud to watch his former player at the World Cup

Mr Dudley had a full house on Wednesday morning as his football-mad family gathered to watch the Lionesses win a a place in Sunday's World Cup final with a 3-1 victory over Australia.

He says he is "really proud" to see his former player in an England shirt at a World Cup, where she scored a penalty in a shootout with Nigeria in the round of 16.

He adds: "She's had the rough with the smooth, in junior football as well as professional football.

"Beth loves football and I'm sure she's in her element at this moment in time."