Latest news with #KellySmith
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Meet the Lionesses super-fan who spends thousands travelling the world to cheer them on - and even has her own themed pub in her garden!
A Lionesses super-fan says she spends £4,000 a year following England and Arsenal. Zoe Bleach, 42, has even installed a £3,000 pub in her back garden, dubbed The Lionesses Den, to cheer them on from Gravesend, Kent, when she's not travelling. She has a collection of Lionesses memorabilia worth around £1,000 - a dream for a lady who fell in love with the beautiful game aged two. Bleach speaks ahead of Tuesday night's semi-final clash with Italy, as research from Amazon's Chatterbox series shows a quarter of British women (25%) believe football is what the UK does best. 'I would say I spend £4,000 a year supporting the Arsenal and England women's teams - the game tickets and travelling all add up,' she said. 'For Euro 2022 I booked tickets for most of the games including the final. I basically took a whole month off to watch the Lionesses. England will play Italy on Tuesday night as they bid for a place in the final of the women's Euros 'I went to Brighton twice, Southampton, Northern Ireland and to Wembley. I spent around £2,000 travelling and buying merchandise on that tournament alone. 'My biggest ever football trip was in 2003, when I travelled to the USA and went on a 16-hour road trip between Mississippi and Washington DC to watch five professional women's soccer matches played in the WUSA league. 'I met Kelly Smith there, and I've never been so starstruck in all my life. I couldn't even remember my name. I didn't know my name, I didn't know where I was from. 'She came and spoke to us for about 10 minutes. It was such a surreal moment in my life. I was so excited to meet her because she was my idol. She is absolutely the best player in the world.' In 2023, Bleach and her partner Elizabeth spent five months building The Lionesses Den to watch the Women's World Cup, where England finished runners-up to Spain. 'It cost us about £3,000 and we have signed shirts from Beth Mead and Kelly Smith, signed autographs from Lucy Bronze and Mary Earps and pictures of me with Leah Williamson. 'The whole collection is probably worth around £1,000. 'It might have been a lot to spend, but we use the pub easily once or twice a week and we love it. I don't regret a single penny I've spent supporting the Lionesses.'
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Arsenal icon backs new signing to shrug off price tag pressure after record £1m move
Olivia Smith has become the first £1m footballer in the women's game but doesn't turn 21 until August - however Arsenal and England legend Kelly Smith is backing her to do the business Kelly Smith knows all about the pressure of pulling on an Arsenal shirt, and now she's one of the people tasked with ensuring new club record signing Olivia Smith can rise to the occasion. And the coach - who won five league titles with the club in her own playing days - backs her namesake to do the business. Canada international Olivia, who doesn't turn 21 until August, became the first £1m player in women's football when she joined Arsenal from Liverpool. Sometimes the price tag can produce untold pressure, but former England striker Kelly has no such concerns. "She's broken the record... it's up to the clubs to come to that. I don't think she would really be looking at that fee," the 46-year-old told Mirror Football. "She just wants to get her head down and and play for Arsenal. Obviously we've got all our games at the Emirates this year so that we've been averaging 45,000, so I think she wants to play on that big stage in front of an exciting Arsenal crowd that helps spur the team on. "But yeah, I think as a new player coming into a club, you just want to get training as quickly as possible, get the ball at your feet, get introduced to your teammates to get comfortable with them. Just learn the way that Arsenal play and then hopefully we'll see her flourish." Arsenal's newest signing only has one WSL season under her belt, but her performance against the London side left a real mark. "She was so dynamic, so quick," coach Smith added. "Running in behind, very, very skillful, up against Katie McCabe, who's a top defender, and Katie had a hard time against her. So it's really pleasing to see that we've got such a an exciting young talent come through who's young, who's hungry, that will give us an extra dimension in a one v one down either flank or wherever we decide to play her. "But that is her strength. She brings a lot of pace and excitement to to this Arsenal side and I think the fans will be really off their seats watching her play." Smith isn't Arsenal's only new attacking signing, with England star Chloe Kelly completing a permanent move on the eve of Euro 2025. And, as Kelly Smith prepares to coach a front-line containing Kelly and Smith, she believes that strength in depth can only be a good thing for the Champions League holders. "Yeah, absolutely," she said when asked if Kelly can benefit from the added competition. "I think us as a club, we want world class players, two world class players in every position to push players on so they don't become complacent. "So I think competition is fierce and it's it's good for the players, they enjoy it. They want to be pushed in training, they want to be pushed in games and I think competition is vital if you want to do well in every competition." Kelly Smith is speaking courtesy of EE, whose Everyone Needs a Squad' campaign aims to help girls across the country build confidence and belonging on and off the pitch. And, while she's glad to see the way youth football has helped shape her namesake, she notes things were very different when it comes to her own football education. "There were no girls teams for me to play on. I had to play on a boys team and then got kicked off that boys team for being pretty much the wrong sex in the in the view of the parents of the opposition," she said.. "And then I found another boys team. The same thing happened. It's just because I was too good and I was a girl. "So there were no opportunities for me to play with girls. But now in this day and age, there's so many girls interested, girls' youth teams available now, school teams available. "I didn't have that. I had to fight my way and be told I can't play. But it's so pleasing to see now that there's so many young girls want to take take the sport up and have role models now that they want to be in practice. [To] be a Chloe Kelly, be an Alessia Russo because they see it now." Kelly Smith is supporting EE's 'Everyone Needs a Squad' campaign to help girls across the country build confidence and belonging on and off the pitch. For more information visit Additionally, the campaign includes the EE Squad Socials. Taking place at locations across the UK, (Brighton 19th July and London Sunday 27th July) the events provide a vibrant space for teenage girls and their families to play, connect, and celebrate self-expression through football.
eNCA
5 days ago
- eNCA
Joshlin Smith's traffickers to appeal life sentences
CAPE TOWN - The trio found guilty in the Joshlin Smith trial will return to court next month to apply for leave to appeal their judgment and sentence. Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn were sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking for the disappearance of six-year-old Joshlin. The Section 204 Inquiry to determine whether the state witness Lourentia Lombaard will be granted indemnity from prosecution will also be dealt with. Their applications will be heard in the Western Cape High Court on 12 and 13 August.
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
England legend gives key advice on how to stop Sweden star's 'superpower'
Kelly Smith was part of the England squad which reached the final of Euro 2009 and has worked with some of Sweden's biggest quarter-final dangers as an Arsenal coach The Euro 2025 quarter-final between England and Sweden carries a strong Arsenal flavour. Lionesses captain Leah Williamson will be going up against club colleague Stina Blackstenius, while there are several other current and former Gunners on both teams. All this makes Kelly Smith brilliantly placed to assess the threat of Peter Gerhardsson's side. Former England striker Smith is part of Arsenal's coaching staff, working day-to-day with the likes of Williamson and Blackstenius, and also played with England's captain when the pair were at opposite ends of their careers. "There's a lot of pressure on Leah, being England captain," Smith tells Mirror Football, describing Williamson as a "very intelligent" person. "The responsibilities that she has with the media and outside stuff, she's got to galvanise the squad and keep them together. "Obviously there are other leaders within that set-up, but she's very outspoken and not afraid to give her opinion whether it's positive or negative. You want someone who's going to bat for your team like that and she's certainly got all those attributes to lead the country and hopefully beat Sweden tonight" Sweden go into the tie off the back of three straight wins in the group stages. And, while England will need to stop striker Blackstenius, there could well be danger from elsewhere too. "You have to possess the ball so Sweden don't hit you on the counter-attack and play long balls over the top into space in the channels for Stina, because that's her superpower," Smith adds. "Running in behind, timing her runs. Obviously she's so quick that it's hard to keep up with her if Sweden get those opportunities to play those long balls. "But Sweden have other threats too, they're very good at set pieces with [former Arsenal pair] Amanda Ilestedt and Lina Hurtig. Very dynamic in the air, good and strong, so England will have to watch out for set pieces and not give too many free-kicks or corners away because Sweden are very good in those areas." Smith is speaking via EE, whose 'Everyone Needs a Squad' campaign aims to help girls across the country build confidence and belonging on and off the pitch. While the impact of the Lionesses' 2022 Euros triumph has been plain to see, with fans kitted out in England shirts all over Switzerland, the former striker is keen to emphasise that - while some things have got easier in women's football since her childhood, others are now tougher. "After 2022 there was a lot of uptake of girls playing football, and this campaign is to highlight the benefits of football, building resilience and confidence in young teenage girls," she says. "Because in this day and age with social media and the pressures of it, it helps build skills to protect them against [those] pressures. "I know when I was growing up, obviously social media wasn't around then but football gave me so much belief within myself, happiness, confidence, resilience. It's a team sport so you're working together for a common goal to try and win games or just having fun with your friends. It really build up my confidence, because I wasn't the most comfortable and didn't really have a lot of friends so football enabled me to have a football family, so to speak, and it really built my confidence up as a young kid. So I was grateful to be a part of this everyone needs a squad campaign because it's vital that girls are involved in football - it gives you so much." Some of England's players at Euro 2025 have spoken about how important their bubble has been when it comes to staying focused on the task at hand, and Smith recognises different players will have different approaches. "Some players I know take themselves off social media for those six weeks that they're away, four weeks or however long they're in the tournament and get their management team to do it," she adds. "When I was playing, it wasn't prevalent. It wasn't there. The back end of my career it was, but I think I was old enough and mentally in a better place then. It's a harsh world now and it could really affect you if you're not strong enough mentally. So football gives that escape and confidence for young girls and and women on social media.." Kelly Smith is supporting EE's 'Everyone Needs a Squad' campaign to help girls across the country build confidence and belonging on and off the pitch. For more information visit Additionally, the campaign includes the EE Squad Socials. Taking place at locations across the UK, (Brighton 19th July and London Sunday 27th July) the events provide a vibrant space for teenage girls and their families to play, connect, and celebrate self-expression through football.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
The England superfan who spends thousands supporting Lionesses
A Lioness superfan says she spends thousands of pounds supporting the England women's national Bleach, from Gravesend in Kent, has travelled around the world to watch her favourite footballers – and even built a Lioness-themed pub in her back garden."I don't regret a single penny I've spent supporting the Lionesses," said Ms Bleach, ahead of England's World Cup quarter-final against Sweden on 42-year-old said while she had been a football fan since the age of two, the Lionesses winning the Euros in 2022 "catapulted women's football in this country into the stratosphere". She added: "I have watched both the men's and women's for years, but to be able to watch women's football on mainstream channels feels very special. This is what I wanted since I was 15." Ms Bleach, a sports physiotherapist, said she previously coached an 11-year-old Chloe Kelly at the Middlesex Centre for said she was proud that the formerly "quiet and shy" girl was now an inspiration for millions as a striker for both Arsenal and England."She wouldn't say boo to a goose," Ms Bleach said. "I wouldn't have looked at her then and said she would be who she is today."It's not handed to any of the girls on a plate, so they deserve it all the more." Ms Bleach says she also uses 10 days of annual leave a year to pursue her 2003, she travelled to the US to watch the Lionesses and meet her idol Kelly and her partner Elizabeth also spent five months building a £3,000 pub in their garden - The Lionesses Den - to watch the Women's World Cup in 2023, and a further £1,000 on memorabilia."When there's big tournaments, I look at the schedule and book annual leave right up to the final, in the hope they get there," Ms Bleach said she booked tickets to most matches, including the final of the 2023 World Cup in Sydney, which England finished as face Sweden in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Women's Euro at 20:00 BST on Thursday on BBC1.
