WHEN Ella Toone went through on goal in England's European Championship final win over Germany, she produced an outrageous dink to put the Lionesses ahead.
One man had absolutely no doubt she would score.
Simon Rigby, Toone's PE teacher at Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, reveals to SunSport what it was like coaching a Euros winner…
"Honest to God, when Keira Walsh put that ball through I knew Ella was going to score. I have seen her in that position so many times so I knew what was coming.
I celebrated the goal before the ball hit the back of the net because I knew she would do it.
The only surprise was that she went for the dink over the keeper – I thought she would go bottom right corner.
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I coached Ella at school for five years – she played with the boys all the way through.
She was definitely as good as the boys, probably better. She was tough and skilful
We went to some schools and they were a bit surprised we had a girl in our team.
Some of them made some comments but I just said to them ‘She’s Ella Toone, you’ll see’. And now they have!
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Playing against the boys all the time in her school years has helped her and given her that determination to succeed.
She has come back to the school and played in staff five-a-side matches on a Friday night.
She actually came back seven weeks ago on my leaving day and had a five-minute cameo, which was really nice.
The school loves her and she loves the school.
You could see that she always had the potential but when she was younger the structure of the women’s game wasn’t quite right.
She got released by Man City and was a bit downhearted so we had to keep her spirits up.
But she kept going and then got a contract at Manchester United and it has all taken off since. The feeling of pride we all had when she got that deal at United was euphoric, we were all so happy for her.
She was definitely as good as the boys, probably better
She is doing exactly what she wants to do – and that is all we can ask for anyone.
Of course, the school also produced Keely Hodgkinson. To have one former pupil win a World Championship silver medal and another score in the Euros final and get a winner’s medal is remarkable!
I text Ella on Saturday to wish her good luck and she messaged me back saying we’ll have a chat soon. But hopefully she’s just enjoying herself now.
Ella has put a lot into this tournament and she deserves the celebration."
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