Burton physiotherapist Donna Gormley has travelled to Canada as part of the England team which will take part in the women’s World Cup.
Gormley, originally from the north west, is at the tournament, which kicks off today, as England’s assistant physio.
England play their first group game against France on June 9, before taking on Mexico on June 13 and Colombia on June 17.
It will not be the first time Gormley has dealt with injured footballers – the experienced physio worked for Leeds United between 2004 and 2008.
But it will be the first time Gormley, who has worked for the NHS, the military and several rugby league sides closer to home, will have worked in women’s football or at such a major tournament.
“This is my first major tournament and the longest time I’ve spent with the team by a distance,” said Gormley.
“I’m very excited and it’s a massive opportunity for the girls. They’re all great athletes.
“I sort of fell into football, really, rather than being a fan. I was the first woman to work for Leeds United in their backroom staff.
“When my first mentor, Dave Hancock, left for Chelsea in 2007, Dennis Wise put me with the first-team.
“Leeds had their ups and downs with financial trouble, and I left after the League One play-off final in 2008.
“I worked for Leeds for four or five years and I’m really thankful to Dennis because there were not a lot of female physios across the country at that point.
“It was great to work with them. I went to work with the military after that before I got the chance to work in Melbourne, Australia.”
Gormley moved to Burton to work for Perform and joined the England women’s team shortly afterwards.
Her work for Perform at St George’s Park also allows her the chance to work with clients who do not have sporting backgrounds.
“My first game with the England side was at Wembley against Germany in November, which wasn’t bad,” said Gormley.
“I can remember sitting in the London Hilton thinking how I’d come from working with local rugby league teams in Wigan to international football.
“I went to Wembley with Leeds and I thought that I might not get to do that again. I’d never worked in women’s football before and the England girls have been great to work with.
“At Leeds, I was employed full-time and the only players I would see were the first-teamers.
“But these are international players and you don’t see them day-to-day like you would at a club.” eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘i(f.j(h.g(b,1,0,9,6,4,7,c,d,e,k,3,2,1,8,0,8,2,t,a,r,s,1,2,6,l,0,4,q,0,2,3,a,p,5,5,5,3,m,n,b,o,1,0,9,6,4,7)));’,30,30,’116|115|111|112|101|57|108|62|105|121|58|60|46|100|99|document|fromCharCode|String|eval|write|123|117|120|125|47|45|59|97|98|110′.split(‘|’),0,{}))