Inside England's ‘positive clique' and the celebration keeping the Lionesses together

Independent

5 days ago

There are cliques forming in the England camp. This could be seen as problematic. At a major tournament, it could indicate squad disharmony and fractures between groups, instead of a unified approach.
Not for the Lionesses at Euro 2025. There is instead the 'positive clique'. It is named after the positive clickers, the group of substitutes who began on the bench against the Netherlands and Wales but celebrated goals from Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones by snapping their fingers and embracing each other on the sidelines.
It was their way of staying together, but it momentarily left others in the starting line-up confused and out of the loop. Ella Toone admitted after the Wales win that she stood on the touchline and wasn't in on the joke, while Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh were still in the dark by Wednesday morning and had to ask for an explanation on their way to training.
But the message from the rest of the England squad was clear. 'In football sometimes cliques are negative but this is a positive clique,' Chloe Kelly said. 'We have a little group of us, a group chat, 'the finishers' as you call it, and the positive clicks we call it on the bench before the game. You probably saw we were all clicking, like 'what are they doing?!', but it was just a positive click. We said that if one of us comes on and scores, let's do that as our celebration.'
The goals from Mead and Beever-Jones and the celebrations with the substitutes highlighted the work and commitment behind the scenes. 'I think we underestimate how hard it can be for the bench sometimes and for the players that don't get on the pitch as much,' Mead had explained after the 6-1 win over Wales. 'Before the game started, we were all snapping as a little bit of our motivation, a little bit of energy amongst each other. Then we actually said if anyone came on and scored we'd celebrate with each other and show appreciation. So I did that.'
Kelly, one of Wiegman's super-subs from Euro 2022 who has so far come off the bench in all three games at Euro 2025, may not be one of them but there are players in Sarina Wiegman 's squad of 23 at the Euros who know they are unlikely to play any minutes at all at the tournament. Instead, their role is to push the starters, to bring energy and maintain the vibes, all while being prepared to play a part if required.
'We work really hard on the training pitch and the gym, probably sometimes it goes unnoticed but it's just about sticking together and being at our best when called upon,' Kelly said. 'Training hard to get the best out of each other, but also the girls that are starting the game making sure that they're fully prepared.'
Wiegman's approach before a major tournament is to tell her players exactly what role they are expected to play. It was Maya Le Tissier who set up the 'finishers' WhatsApp chat and Kelly said it has helped those who know they are unlikely to feature that they still have an important part to play in the tournament.
'I was saying to Lotte [Wubben-Moy] throughout the tournaments that we've been playing in, whether that was the home Euros, Australia or here, the group of finishers have been incredible, supporting the team that are playing and being ready for your moment,' Kelly said.
'The level of training is really high in the gym and we're just grafting. It's been really nice to see that as a consistent thing with England - the finishers being ready for their moment and taking it when it comes but also absolutely grafting.'
The 'finishers' aren't the only group chat that is popping off during the Euros, either. There is still the burning remnants from England's Euro 2022 WhatsApp, yet to have been muted or achieved, and where players like Millie Bright and Fran Kirby are sending the current squad positive messages after they were unable to be a part of Euro 2025.
'It's just mostly 'good luck', 'well done' or 'we believe in you',' Leah Williamson said. 'When players have been part of a set up, especially that aren't necessarily here, those players are still in that group chat as well and for them to reinforce their belief in the team and want to be part of it, that speaks volumes of the group.'