Northamptonshire's 'Lost Lioness' cheers England into Euro 2022 final 51 years on from World Cup exploits

Lillian Taylor played in goal for England in the 70s.

One of the ‘Lost Lionesses’ is eagerly watching England’s march to the Euro 2022 final on Sunday (July 31), 50 years on from when an advert in the Northampton Chronicle & Echo kickstarted her love of football.

Lillian Taylor, formerly Harris, from Silverstone, was straight on the phone to Brixworth ladies football team when they were looking for new recruits, aged just 18.

Lillian said: “I never looked back.”

She was soon competing in Sicily as a defender for England’s Women’s World Cup team, where they qualified to compete in Mexico and Lillian switched to a goalkeeper.

“I’d never seen anything like it. I came from a small village and had only just started playing football. I was then in the big leagues,” she said.

“We were greeted by photographers as we stepped off the plane in Mexico and I couldn’t believe it.”

Despite losing their match, Lillian described the game as “amazing” and she could hear how loud the 90,000-strong crowd was while in the dressing room, prior to the game.

When she returned to England, she carried on playing for her team until she got married in 1972.

Lillian had her two children by the end of 1976, and played football for fun until 1985.

She said: “When my daughter was old enough for school, football kicked off again because they wanted me to go in and play it with the children.

“There were so many that wanted to join in, we had to split it between two afternoons.

“I absolutely loved it.”

Talking about the 50-year ban on women’s football, which was lifted just before she began playing, Lillian said: “It was the wrong thing to do.”

She says the Lionesses’ manager knew what they were capable of, and he would have “got [them] up there with the rest” had the state of women’s football in England been different – like the teams they were competing against in Mexico who were being paid, including Italy and Denmark.

“We would have been up there like England is now, but years ahead,” said Lillian.

Lillian is now eagerly watching this year’s Euros and “gets so excited” her legs kick out as if she is passing and tackling for them.