TIME, PLEASE! Boosting the Young Lionesses’ chances

Currently away in Poland at the U20 World Cup, the England team are next up against Nigeria in the knock-out rounds.

Speaking to head coach Lydia Bedford and two of her young Lionesses stars, Princess Ademiluyi and May Cruft, you soon understand how vital game time is – with their clubs to progress for their country, and vice versa.

But it’s not a given any more, with some WSL clubs starting with few – or even zero – English players. So I wanted to know what the coach and her players thought of this…

Lydia Bedford is pleased with her U20 group of Lionesses and what they’ve achieved so far, but she also knows it’s not plain sailing for English players at the beginning of their careers.

Clubs often want the finished product – and they want that now, whether they’re Spanish, Scandinavian, Japanese or German – which means that getting minutes on the pitch for homegrown youngsters becomes harder.

Bedford, however, can see the situation from all sides, having previously been head coach for Leicester City, then Canadian side, Calgary Wild, before becoming permanent U23 Lionesses head coach this year, as well as taking over the U20s before the World Cup.

BOTH SIDES NOW

I first asked Bedford where she stood on this question…

A couple of the WSL teams had no English players in their starting XIs… and short term, maybe that’s fine, but looking at the longer term… for budding, particularly young Lionesses, what do you think about that?

Lydia Bedford: I think I’m probably in a unique situation where I’ve been in both environments.

And as a club coach, you’ll always make whatever you think the best decision is for your club to gain points on any given game day.

Having spent a lot of time in the Youth International Pathway before coming back this March, I’ll obviously always root for young English players and them being given an opportunity.

But at the same time, as I’m the U23s coach, my message to those players will always be, you have to earn those opportunities.

Nothing’s going to be given to you easily, which we all can see.

So therefore, what can they be doing every day, is pushing those coaches to put themselves in the best position.

That’s where I think this World Cup has been a great opportunity for the players that are here to actually provide them a platform where their club coaches can see what they’re capable of bringing in a pressured moment.

And hopefully that has a trickle effect into the WSL and WSL2 over the next few months when the players return.

It feels to me like there’s a difference between some of your players like Rachel Maltby, and Chloe Sarwie, the ones who have regular high-level experience, they seem to be like ducks to water in the way they’re playing.

LB: Yeah, I think it’s like any walk of life, isn’t it?

The more experience you get, the better you are at delivering your role.

So for some of those players, obviously they’re in more pressured environments on a more regular weekly basis, particularly Rachel Maltby, because she obviously has quite a lot of playing time through her time at Villa.

That’s naturally going to help them coming into a tournament like this.

And that’s where I think as England youth teams, we often help fill the gap for the players that maybe need that opportunity still.

I think that’s a really important role that we can play.

And then, hopefully, that starts to lead to more clubs recognising that these players have proven that they can have an impact in big moments and therefore they are more able to pick up minutes post-tournament.

PLAYING FOR TIME

You could say that both Princess Ademiluyi and May Cruft are living proof that some young Lionesses now have to leave England and go further afield to get minutes for club sides in order to be picked for England. Ademiluyi (below, left) was at West Ham, but moved to Gotham in the NWSL and is now on loan at WSL2 side Ipswich Town.

May Cruft has been at Rangers (below, right) since she was just 15 and signed a professional contract for them before she turned 16, and she has been a real success story in the SPWPL – the Scottish League – playing well beyond her years. In fact, she was voted SPWPL Young Player of the Year in 2026.  

I spoke to them first about how vital it is to get minutes on the pitch…

Talking about getting minutes, both internationally and for your clubs, can you tell me how important that is that the two feed into each other?

May Cruft: Yeah, I think it has been really important.

Obviously for Rangers to let me go here and play in this… as well as when I’m back at Rangers being able to play.

The main thing for me right now, obviously I’m still young, is just to keep getting those minutes, keep getting the experience.

So yeah, I’m really grateful for Rangers and obviously England for me being able to get this experience.

Princess Ademiluyi: I think it’s just a little bit different.

Like who’s watching you at club is different, and who’s watching you on an international stage is very different.

Being exposed to different sorts of pressure, I think is amazing because being able to deal with pressure, you can always turn up as yourself.

So I feel like my club let me come here.

And it’s just boosted and accelerated my career, my development.

Two big clubs in the WSL, turned out with no English players in the starting XI, Spurs and London City Lionesses, which I found a bit shocking, thinking about the future and you guys… So I wonder what you thought of that and also how difficult it is to break into the first team in any club?

PA: Yeah, I think in the WSL it’s a bit frustrating.

Knowing that you have to have homegrown players in a squad. So yeah, having eight homegrown players, especially looking at London City. Obviously, I know Michele’s there and obviously the cash is coming in and flowing in over there so it’s a bit hard to see, because knowing that they do have the eight, and none of them are in the starting line-up I think is a bit crazy, in my personal opinion.

It just shows that in English football it’s a lot harder for us to get involved. So I think this is why a lot of young English girls are moving abroad, because they are getting the minutes elsewhere.

Which is very annoying, because having one of the best leagues in England and having no England players, it kind of sucks for us, I would say.

I don’t know if you have any thoughts on that as well, May?

MC: Yeah, I think being in Scotland for me has been really good for me getting those minutes for senior football.

I agree with Princess.

When you talk to the other players… like Chloe Sarwie, or Rachel Maltby plays almost every game when she’s at Villa… do they talk about the difference it makes to them – or can you see it in the way they are?

PA: Yeah, and I feel like a good example would be Erica Meg Parkinson.

She was obviously playing in Portugal and playing minutes from such a young age, and you can see how far she’s already developed at such a young age, she’s just turned 18. But she’s developed so much.

And you can see a difference from players playing in different countries because they played more week and week out.

It’s a lot harder when you’re in England if you get less minutes and less time to play. But Rach broke into Villa’s starting XI quite frequently last year. So she’s also developed a lot more within that period.

For you, May that must make a huge difference because you’ve got that kind of muscle memory where you’re like: I’ve done this before… if you’re playing all the time.

MC: Yeah, I know exactly.

Like I’ve said before, I think the trust that Rangers and the manager’s put in me from a young age has been great for me.

And obviously, just the experience of playing, getting my minutes up, keep playing first-team football… just getting those minutes is really, really important for me.

It was Jo Potter who gave you your first break when you were still really young. Is that right?

MC: Yeah, that’s right, yeah.

No, she was amazing for me as well to help me step in.

She was the first manager I had when I was transitioning into the first team.

And I really appreciated all the work that she did for me.

Finally, if you do beat Nigeria, which is not a given, you might play the host nation, Poland. What would that feel like?

PA: I mean, I think it would be great playing the host nation.

We played them before, so it’s not anything new for us.

But again, I’m not going to say just because we’re playing the home nation, it should be this sort of game.

It’s another game for us, another game to win.

We’re going to deliver that game plan and we’re going to go there, play to 120 minutes and ultimately to win the game.

Photos: England; Rangers.