Sophie Baggaley- England’s #1

Derby County’s Sophie Baggaley continued to impress on the International stage this week as she gained the second cap of her career, representing England U15’s as they faced their first opposition of the season, an evening encounter with the Dutch.

On Monday 21st February, the England Women’s U15 team were beaten 2-1 by Netherlands in front of a sizeable crowd at the headquarters of Leicestershire & Rutland FA, Holmes Park.

Holmes Park recorded a record crowd with 1,080 people watching Kay Cossington’s young side in action for the first time this season, but saw them slip to a 2-1 defeat in the hands of the Dutch.

England started brightly with Claudia Walker and Katie Zelem both testing the Dutch number 1 early on in the match, however the Dutch responded by creating chances themselves, a defence splitting pass played through leaving the Dutch striker through on goal, only for England’s number 1 and Derby County Girls Centre of Excellence U14’s Goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley to rush out of her goal and brilliantly smother the ball at the feet of Vivianne Miedema. England continued to create chances, with Sarah Mayling, Keira Walsh and Katie Zelem all forcing saves out of Van der Werff.

However it was the Dutch that went ahead after 19 minutes, Laika Boerrigter getting her name on the score sheet first. England continued to create chances but failed to convert, with the back 4 keeping the Dutch strike force quiet. England could count themselves unfortunate to be behind at the break, however their reward came not long into the 2nd half, Manchester United’s Katie Zelem equalizing for the 3 Lions, a well taken header leaving the Dutch Number 1 Kim van der Werff rooted to the spot.

England’s joy was short lived however, a defensive mix up in what was otherwise a brilliant performance from the backline allowed Dutch striker Vivienne Miedema to put the Dutch ahead for the 2nd time in the match. England responded brilliantly, upping the tempo and piling the pressure on the Dutch for the remainder of the game. Claudia Walker blazed over and Sarah Mayling forced a brilliant save out of van der Werrf to keep the score at 2-1. England continued to fight to the end, the 3 Lions unfortunate not to equalise right at the death, an inswinging corner cleared off the line at the backpost by Saskia Wessels.

Overall, it was a good performance from England who could count themselves unlucky to not get anything out of the game. However, a training match between the 2 nations on Wednesday saw England come back from a 2 goal deficit to draw the game 2-2, with Sophie Baggaley recording another solid 45 minutes in goal as England’s number 1.
Sophie joined the Derby County Centre of Excellence for Girls when she was 9 years old, having been scouted by Stuart Rowley whilst playing for a local boys team, Weston Colts. She started out as an outfield player, until her coach Steve Crick discovered her talent as a goal keeper when she was covering in goal one day for their injured goalkeeper.
Both Sophie and her Parents, Nigel and Rachel Baggaley, are very appreciative of the support Steve gave to Sophie when she was scouted. Rachel said “It was hard for Sophie when she was asked to join the centre, obviously she wanted to go but she was apprehensive about leaving her team mates and letting them down. Steve encouraged her to move to the Girls Centre of Excellence and re-assured her moving on was part of football and that she wasn’t letting anybody down, and that they were proud of her and hoped she’d continue to develop at the Centre.”

Continue to develop she did, progressing through the ranks and developing the reputation of a hardworking and modest individual. Sophie’s reward for all her hard work came in April 2010 when, at just 13 years of age, she became the first player from the Derby County Centre of Excellence for Girls to receive an invite to an England Talent Camp. She spent 4 days with the England Under-15 squad at a training camp in Berkshire.

Centre Director Pete Johnson said: "Sophie is fantastically committed and works with our goalkeeping coach Tom Williams whenever she can. She has earned her place in the England training camp because of her sheer determination to succeed. In order to be an elite player, you need to put in the work and Sophie definitely does that. She also has great support from her parents, which helps. Sophie is an exceptional role model both on and off the field. Players look up to her and know that, one day, this could be them too."

August 2010 proved to be a prominent month for the Centre of Excellence, with Sophie’s team mate Portia Badach joining Sophie in being called up to Cossington’s Talent Camp. Baggaley and Badach went on to gain their first international call up to the squad, with Baggaley claiming the number 1 jersey when England faced Ireland at the beginning of the month, with Badach also playing a part in the fixture, England coming out on top on this occasion, beating Ireland by 2 goals to 1.

In October, a third player from the centre was invited to the camp, under 14s defender Amy Baker joining Portia and Sophie in representing Derby County on an international level. All 3 girls were then recalled to the Camp in February, Baggaley being named in Cossington’s 21 player squad to face Netherlands this week.

U14s Centre of Excellence Coach Charlotte Healy said “All 3 girls are a credit to the Centre. Their attitude and desire to succeed along with their application of knowledge and technical ability is why they’ve been called up to the talent camps.  The Centre is very supportive of the Girls achievements, with the whole squad travelling to Holmes Park on Monday to watch Sophie represent England. The Centre is very proud of the Girls achievements and we hope many more players will follow in their footsteps and go on to represent their country in the future.”

Only players enrolled with a Centre of Excellence, a purpose-built centre approved by the FA, can play for England.

Derby County's Centre of Excellence is one of 52 in the country and as well as offering specialist coaching and nutritional advice, the girls get the chance to play against other Centres, such as Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City.

The girls train at Mill Hill School in Ripley, with matches taking place at Leesbrook School.

Trials for next season will take place in June and girls can be nominated by either their club or school.

For more details contact Pete Johnson on 07954 578084 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it