5 things I spotted when visiting England's spectacular Women's World Cup camp
Welcome to Terrigal, New South Wales, home of the Lionesses for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
This is where the team will stay between games at the Crowne Plaza hotel. The European Champions train at the nearby Central Coast Stadium - home of A league outfit the Central Coast Mariners and just a short 15 minute drive away. FA planning for the venue has been in the pipeline since an initial visit in December 2021 and confirmed following the draw late last year.
Selected media were invited behind the scenes in Terrigal, including Mirror Football , courtesy of FA officials Kay Cossington, Technical Director and Anja Van Ginhoven, the team's General Manager.
Here’s what we spotted on our guided tour.
Stunning team portrait of players as juniors
On arrival at the team base, one of the first striking images is a portrait featuring all 23 members of the squad. But rather than your average tournament team photo, this one is genuinely moving.
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The image features the players as juniors, with the end product put together by UK artist Harry G Ward. Each player submitted an image of them playing as a kind and the end result is nothing short of stunning.
It offers the perfect reminder of the journey the English players have been on, from young girls who just enjoyed kicking a ball, to representing their country on the biggest stage of all.
A painting on the wall of the England base camp hotel features portraits of the Lionesses from childhood photos.Elsewhere on the landing space there is a coffee stand, where we are told the majority of the players in the squad come for their morning caffeine hit. While a classic tournament wallchart takes pride of place in front of the players meeting room. Senior squad member Lucy Bronze is in charge of filling it in.
How the players relax - arcades, library and virtual reality
Many of the Lionesses spend the majority of their downtime inside the Scott relaxation room at base camp. Here players can do everything from jump on a virtual reality headset, play FIFA or just quietly read a book in the corner.
The library section contains plenty of sporting heroes for inspiration, with tennis stars Ash Barty and Serena Williams and rugby legend Alun Wyn Jones’ autobiographies all making an appearance. For anyone looking for a slightly less light-hearted read can plunge themselves into ‘To Paradise’ a dark novel by American Hanya Yanagihara.
Inside the Lionesses dining room at the team base campThere is also retro arcade machines, dartboard and a table tennis table all in the converted conference room to help the squad pass the time. Representing your country on the biggest stage can be stressful work. But this serene setting should help the players remain calm away from the pitch.
Why the FA choose not to move beyond group stage
FIFA suggest teams have a primary team base for the group stage, before “city hopping” for the knockout stages. But the Lionesses have opted to take a different path to their rivals.
Instead, England have chosen to remain at Terrigal throughout the tournament, regardless of whether they reach the final or go out in the round of 16. According to Cossington, this was to help create a “home away from home,” which had been so pivotal to success at Euro 2022.
The team's own World Cup wallchartThe FA had apparently searched the length and breadth of Australia to find the perfect base and won’t be wasting the opportunity to create a familiar environment. Admittedly, the draw lends kindly to the Lionesses in this regard, with potentially four of their seven matches in Sydney if they make it all the way to the final.
“The distance to matches at this tournament have made our set-up here more important than ever before.”
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Inside the "Lionesses Down Under" Studio
The seventh floor of the hotel features one of the hidden gems of base camp. Here lies the studio where England’s Media team record the YouTube show ‘Lionesses Down Under’.
Every non-matchday a player will sit down with former Lioness Jill Scott and presenter Kyle Walker for a chat. Next door lies the diary room where players are able to record messages for fans and loved ones.
Inside the Scott relaxation room at the England base campThe most telling part was the signs pointing to home, with the exact miles to Manchester and Sunderland displayed. The view of Terrigal's coastline is genuinely breathtaking. Even in what technically is the Australian winter, this is a beautiful part of the world and even the most well-travelled of players can't help but be impressed.
How team spirit is fostered
The various rooms throughout the base have one thing in common. You can’t move for inspirational quotes on the importance of a team.
Sarina Wiegman has installed a “no stars” culture during her tenure and the evidence of that adorns the walls here. Inside the Parr dining room, the first wall you see reads, “From the pitch, to the stands, at home or away, support each other, through thick and thin, cos that’s the England way.”
Perhaps the most poignant lies along the corridor. “Play for the shirt on the pitch, not the seat on the plane.” Just in case you were wondering, the 23 players here won’t be left in any doubt that they still have a serious job to do over the next few weeks. They are also following their own set of beliefs and principles.
Cossington revealed: "The spaces on the walls are things that the players own, quotes and words that have come through from the team, there's not things that we've actually made up, that's stuff that the team own and really believe in.”
For this group, simply being in Australia, is not enough.
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