Beth Mead

Age nine, Mead began her youth career at California Boys FC and the Middlesbrough centre of excellence. During her time playing in Middlesbrough, her mother picked up a second job to help cover the cost of petrol. While playing in the boys' league with California Boys, Mead states that other team's players and parents would laugh when they saw her turn up because she was a girl. Her teammates used to tell the other team to laugh ahead of kick-off because they knew that as soon as the game started, she would be running rings around them. Mead's father advised her to not engage as ‘‘[her] football [would] do the talking.’’ Mead states that she ultimately earned a lot of respect from teams and their parents. As a teenager, Mead scored a hat-trick in six or seven minutes for Middlesbrough against Sunderland, considered to be one of the best teams in England at the time. When she turned 16, Mick Mulhern, Sunderland's then-manager, met Mead and her parents to sign her up for the team. According to Mulhern, his determination to sign her came as he ‘‘knew [what] she would become.’’

Sunderland, 2011–16

2011–13: Back-to-back WPL titles and Golden Boot awards

In 2011–12, her first season in the FA Women's Premier League (WPL), Mead scored 23 goals in 23 games. Sunderland won the league, in part due to Mead's winning goal against Leeds United. Sunderland also won their first FA Women's Premier League Cup, completing a domestic double. Mead won the WPL Golden Boot, was jointly named Sunderland Player of the Year award alongside captain Stephanie Bannon, and won the Mavis Clayton Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Achievement. Bannon acted as a mentor for Mead. In the 2012–13 season, Mead recorded 30 goals in 28 matches. She again won the FA WPL Golden Boot and Sunderland Player of the Year award. She was also named Top Female Achiever at the Scarborough and District Sports Awards.

2014: Leading Sunderland's promotion

In 2014, Sunderland won the FA WSL 2 and gained promotion to the WSL. Mead was the team's top-scorer with 15 goals across all competition. She was nominated for WSL 2 Player of the Year, and named SportsByte Sports Person of the Year, Top Female Achiever at the Scarborough and District Sports Awards, and Sunderland Supporters' Young Player of the Year. Although Mead turned professional upon Sunderland's league promotion, she resolved to finish her final year at Teesside University; as part of the ‘Where Greatness Is Made’ campaign, a plaque honouring Mead was installed at the university. She also kept working at…

Youth

Mead has represented England at every age level from under-15. Mead was a part of the England under-19 team that won the silver at the 2013 Under-19 Championship. She scored a brace in the semifinal, and won the silver ball. Mead played in all three matches for England under-20 at the 2014 U-20 Women's World Cup, and scored a long-range goal against Mexico. The goal was voted as the third-best of the tournament.

Senior

2018: Debut

In April 2018, Mead made her debut for the senior England side in a 0–0 draw against Wales during 2019 Women's World Cup qualification. Mead started her first match in September 2018, scoring twice in England's 6–0 win over Kazakhstan in Pavlodar.

2019–20: World Cup and England Player of the Year finalist

Mead scored two goals as England won the 2019 SheBelieves Cup. During the opening game, she scored a "stunning" match-winning goal against Brazil. The finish was later affectionately named ‘‘crot’’ (cross-shot) and has been declared her signature. A few days later, she scored in the team's 3–0 victory against Japan. On 9 April 2019, Mead scored the opening goal in a 2–1 victory over Spain. Mead started in the first two matches of the 2019 Women's World Cup in France. She provided the assist to Jodie Taylor's goal in the Lionesses' 1–0 group stage win over Argentina. After finishing first in Group D and defeating Cameroon 3–0 in the Round of 16, England faced Norway in the quarter-finals. In the…

Bethany Jane Mead was born on 9 May 1995 to parents June and Richard. She has a brother, Ben. Mead grew up in Hinderwell, a small village near Whitby, which she has described as ‘‘a fishing town in the middle of nowhere.’’ Mead attended Oakridge Community Primary School in Hinderwell where she played with the boys' football team and was the only girl. She was captain of the primary school team, and has stated that made other girls feel more comfortable to join. The team won the local primary school cup for boys' teams with four girls in the team. Mead started playing football when she was six years old. Her mother took her to a Saturday morning football session on a village field to encourage her to expend energy. Initially concerned that Mead would be the only girl in the session, the coach later remarked that Mead was rougher than most of the boys. Mead took part in many sports, including cross-country running, netball, cricket, and field hockey, but ‘‘football always hit [her] different.’’ She has described football as her ‘‘one true love.’’ Mead joined in with her local senior men's cricket team and caught two balls from her brother's bowling; she states that the local newspaper described it as the ‘Mead Show.’