UEFA Euro 2022 final profiles: The four players with Sheffield and South Yorkshire links

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links.

By David Kessen

Published 27th Jul 2022, 12:24 BST

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Here we profile the players with local connections who are dreaming of picking up winners medals after Sunday evening’s final at Wembley:

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Millie Bright

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links. England players celebrate at the end of the Women Euro 2022 semi final soccer match between England and Sweden at Bramall Lane Stadium in Sheffield, England, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links. England players celebrate at the end of the Women Euro 2022 semi final soccer match between England and Sweden at Bramall Lane Stadium in Sheffield, England, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Millie Bright started out in football wearing the navy blue strip with flashes of yellow at the sides worn by her Sunday League team Killamarsh Dynamos.

The former Killamarsh Junior School pupil, who is also a Sheffield United Academy product, went on to play for Doncaster Rovers Belles before moving the the Chelsea women’s team in London.

Football was not always her first love – she said in 2019: “Horses were my first love. I used to work as groom and fitness instructor and have always done something I wanted to do and I have never worked in a job I did not enjoy.”

Her mum Nicola said: “Every match we go to is like the first match she has played for England. It’s such an honour every time she plays for them.”

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links. England's Millie Bright during the training session at the Stade Municipal Saint-Amand-les-Eaux. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday June 22, 2019. See PA story SOCCER England Women. Photo credit should read: John Walton/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only. No commercial use. No use with any unofficial 3rd party logos. No manipulation of images. No video emulation.

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links. England's Millie Bright during the training session at the Stade Municipal Saint-Amand-les-Eaux. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday June 22, 2019. See PA story SOCCER England Women. Photo credit should read: John Walton/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only. No commercial use. No use with any unofficial 3rd party logos. No manipulation of images. No video emulation.

Beth England

Beth England also spent time with the Sheffield United Academy as a youngster.

Now playing for Chelsea women, the Barnsley-born striker, who is playing in her first big tournament on English soil, also established herself at the Doncaster Rovers Belles in 2011, moving to Chelsea in 2016.

She won the FA WSL Player of the Year in 2020.

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links. Beth England during the media day at St George's Park, Burton. PA Photo. Picture date: Wednesday November 6, 2019. See PA story SOCCER England Women. Photo credit should read: Nigel French/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to FA restrictions. Editorial use only. Commercial use only with prior written consent of the FA. No editing except cropping.

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links. Beth England during the media day at St George's Park, Burton. PA Photo. Picture date: Wednesday November 6, 2019. See PA story SOCCER England Women. Photo credit should read: Nigel French/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to FA restrictions. Editorial use only. Commercial use only with prior written consent of the FA. No editing except cropping.

She started out playing for Junior Tykes in Barnsley. It was while playing for the Tykes, at the age of seven, alongside her twin sister that she says she discovered her ‘love for football’.

Paul Görner, current Secretary of the club, said: “You could see it then that she was special, but not in our wildest dreams did we think she would turn out to be the world class player she is now! We are so proud of her, and we are always quick to make the point that we have a current Chelsea and England striker.”

Ellie Roebuck

Dyed-in-the-wool Sheffield United fan Roebuck, now Manchester City’s first-choice goalkeeper, was raised in Beighton and played in goal for the local boys team, Beighton Magpies, from the age of six before joining Sheffield United’s academy.

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links. England Women's Ellie Roebuck checks out the pitch ahead of the International Friendly match at the Energy Check County Ground, Swindon. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday April 9, 2019. See PA story SOCCER England Women. Photo credit should read: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to FA restrictions. Editorial use only. Commercial use only with prior written consent of the FA. No editing except cropping.

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links. England Women's Ellie Roebuck checks out the pitch ahead of the International Friendly match at the Energy Check County Ground, Swindon. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday April 9, 2019. See PA story SOCCER England Women. Photo credit should read: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to FA restrictions. Editorial use only. Commercial use only with prior written consent of the FA. No editing except cropping.

She was 12 years old when Great Britain entered a women’s football team into an Olympic Games for the first time at London 2012 and remembers it well, though not for the obvious reasons.

“It’s quite a funny story – I remember getting called up to my first England camp, which was around the time London 2012 was kicking off and it was under-15s,” she told The Star

“I’d actually booked to go on holiday, it was my first call up and I’d never really expected it. I remember having to fly out and meet my mum on holiday with my dad.

“I got the GB kit but they didn’t have any of the football kit left so I ended up with the multi-sport kit and I remember running through the airport fully kitted out after camp to meet up and my case got stolen.

“I ended up spending the whole first few days in this kit before I could buy any more clothes. I spent the majority of my holiday in that kit.”

Said Roebuck of the expectation around the tournament: “It’s massive – a home Euros, a home crowd.”

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links. Alex Greenwood (right) with Steph Houghton at the end of the FIFA Women's World Cup Third Place Play-Off at the Stade de Nice, Nice. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday July 6, 2019. See PA story SOCCER England Women. Photo credit should read: Richard Sellers/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only. No commercial use. No use with any unofficial 3rd party logos. No manipulation of images. No video emulation.

England women are heading for the Euro 2022 final – and four players have strong Sheffield and South Yorkshire links. Alex Greenwood (right) with Steph Houghton at the end of the FIFA Women's World Cup Third Place Play-Off at the Stade de Nice, Nice. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday July 6, 2019. See PA story SOCCER England Women. Photo credit should read: Richard Sellers/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only. No commercial use. No use with any unofficial 3rd party logos. No manipulation of images. No video emulation.

Alex Greenwood

She may not have played in South Yorkshire – but England Euro 2022 star Alex Greenwood is dating Sheffield United ace Jack O'Connell.

Centre-back Jack O'Connell. O'Connell has had plenty to time to watch her play recently – having been on Sheffield's injury list since 2020.

The pair are childhood sweethearts having both grown up on Merseyside, and dating each other before they burst onto the scene at their respective clubs.

They first crossed paths at Savio Salesian College in Bootle, Merseyside, as their budding romance started.

The Mancester City women defender previously told The Guardian: “I’m obsessed with football.

“Often, at home, all Jack and I talk about is football, we watch it and analyse it all the time. People ask what I do to get away from the game but I don’t want to escape it.”

How to watch the UEFA Euro 2022 final

The pre-match action and the game will be broadcast live from 4pm on BBC One. Viewers can also stream the action on the BBC iPlayer app and the BBC Sport website by using a computer, smartphone, tablet or smart TV.

England Sheffield South Yorkshire Jack O'Connell