Lauren 'didn't realise' she could make a career from football - now she is on the cusp of history
On a day of light traffic, it takes five hours and 13 minutes to drive from Lauren Hemp’s hometown North Walsham to Manchester City’s Academy Stadium, her club’s home ground.
Once again the Sydney Stadium is the stage for the tournament’s highly anticipated battle between Jorge Vilda’s Spain and Sarina Wiegman’s England on Sunday. Hemp’s football story begins on the grass of the North Walsham FC where she played for two years in the boys’ team. The teenager launched herself into the consciousness of the Women's Super League, netting nine times for her club in the 2017/18 season after the Robins' 2016/17 promotion, enough to get herself noticed by Manchester City.
“I think a lot of the girls did that and I was lucky to go back to the same boys’ team that I used to play with at North Walsham and in the end it shaped me to the player I am. The humble star has since scored more than 30 goals for Manchester City as she features on the left of a regular front three alongside fellow Lioness Chloe Kelly and Jamaica’s Bunny Shaw.
“Even when I went to Bristol City, the players still had to have two jobs and you couldn’t make a living just off football alone. "Next thing I know, she’s rang Nick and got him on the phone. She said, 'Is this genuine? Lauren has just had a call' and he said, 'Yeah, it’s completely genuine'.”Great Britain’s 4-3 loss after extra time against Australia at Tokyo 2020 stoked the fire for Hemp at the 2023 World Cup and she would have her revenge two years later with a goal and assist in the Matildas' backyard.
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