England & Bartrip describe that special Wembley Stadium feeling ahead of Women’s FA Cup Final
Fri 10 May 2024, 09:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
“It’s just a phenomal feeling,” were the words echoed by Bethany England ahead of playing in a sold-out Wembley Stadium.
It’s set to be an occasion to remember for our players and staff on Sunday afternoon (2.30pm UK) as we play in our first-ever Women’s FA Cup Final, competing against Manchester United to become the 18th different winner of the competition.
As part of preparations, the squad travelled down to the national stadium, taking in the surrounds with over 90,000 supporters expected to attend, including over 11,000 Spurs fans.
Our captain, Bethany, who has won the FA Cup on two occasions in her career so far, spoke about the feeling of walking out in front of a packed stadium for an FA Cup Final.
“It’s going to be amazing, that feeling of walking out and seeing an entire stadium full up,” Bethany said. “Just knowing the supporters are there and, hopefully, it’s an exciting game of football.
“It’s a feeling that you can’t explain, I don’t think it ever gets old,” she added when asked about lifting the trophy. “It’s a trophy that everyone wants to win, playing at this beautiful stadium, it’s just a phenomenal feeling.”
Defender Molly Bartrip started her youth career at the Club and, despite a few years away at the start of her senior journey, she returned as a Lilywhite in 2021 when she joined from Reading and the 27-year-old admitted it will be a ‘dream come true’ stepping out at Wembley.
“It’s a bit surreal,” as Molly took in the surroundings at Wembley. “So can you imagine 90,000 people… that’s what dreams are made of, we are all just excited.”
When asked about her earliest FA Cup memory, Molly said: “Probably my old team (Reading), we got through to the semi-final and lost on penalties, it was heart breaking.
“So, to make it to a final now is something you can look back on your career and go ‘playing here, in front of this many people, is a dream come true’ and that’s what you look up to as a kid.
“There will be so many young girls and boys in the crowd and you are doing what they want to do, so we just have to enjoy the moment and we will see what happens, but we just have to give it our all.”
