More than 60 former Lionesses visited St George's Park last week to be awarded their individual legacy caps by the current squad. For Pat Mitchell-Firth, it was 50 years on from her debut against Scotland where she scored a historic hat-trick, becoming the first female player to do so for England.
Ms Mitchell-Firth, now 66, was just 16 years of age when she represented the Lionesses for the first time in June 1973. After discovering a love for the game following the 1966 World Cup, she played for a local team in the village of Swillington in West Yorkshire from the age of nine until she was 12, she then represented a pub team called Fleece Fillies in Wakefield before she was eventually invited for England trials aged 15.
Despite her tender age, Mitchell-Firth was picked to face Scotland at Manor Park in Nuneaton for the women's first ever home match on English soil. She burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion as she rattled home a hat-trick - something she'd dreamt about only the night before.
“It was a very hot June day," Mitchell-Firth recalled in an interview with the Mirror. "The team I played for in Wakefield brought a coach load of people down from the pub who supported us.
“The night before I actually dreamt I got picked and I scored a hat-trick, I woke my roommate up to tell her and she said ‘yeah alright Pat go to sleep’. I was called in the see the manager the next morning and he said I would be playing 60 minutes and I had to just run my heart out.
“I couldn’t believe I’d been picked. I remember feeling so full of pride when I pulled an England shirt on and walked out. I scored a ‘true hat-trick’, one with my head, one with my right foot and one with my left. It is a little bit of a blur, but what you can remember you remember for the rest of your life.”
Mitchell-Firth went on to represent England 11 times and scored nine goals in total before she was forced to hang up her boots at 21 due to injury. She took up coaching for a further 10 years before retiring from the game completely and has only recently returned to coach a local under-13s side.
50 years on from her historic debut, Mitchell-Firth was presented with her legacy cap by England shot-stopper Mary Earps and was also awarded a match ball by Manchester United star Ella Toone. Having also observed a training session at St George's Park, the former Lioness saw first hand the togetherness of the current squad and says manager Sarina Wiegman is someone she would've loved to have worked with.
“(The rise) has been first class. She (Wiegman) has changed everything and everybody plays for her," Mitchell-Firth continued. "I’ve witnessed some of the team talks they have in training and she’s a people person.
“She’s the sort of person I would’ve wanted to coach me. She’s straightforward, there’s no messing about and she says very clearly what she wants from you and what you’re going to get out of doing it that way. The girls respect her so much and the respect is given back to them.
“I’ve never seen a Lionesses team play their football as confidently as we do now. One-touch, two-touch football. Before our goal against Brazil last week, I think I counted 38 passes before the ball hit the back of the net.
"Sarina has done a tremendous job, she really has.”
