England's Alex Greenwood is the talk of the town ahead of Euros final

Yahoo

5 days ago

One street in Merseyside has become a pilgrimage for England fans in recent years. Above the Hyper Bar on Stanley Road in Bootle is a huge mural for Alex Greenwood, whose journey to the highest stages in international football began on the streets of the Sefton town.
Greenwood attended St Monica's RC Primary School on Aintree Road and later Savio Salesian College, which is now called The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco, on Netherton Way. Greenwood has played every game in this year's Euros, helping England to progress to the final for the second successive tournament.
The Lionesses, who won the trophy back in 2022, have made it to the final again on Sunday against Spain, the opponents who won the World Cup at England's expense in 2023. Now Greenwood, who will likely start at left-back, and her teammates have the chance to enact revenge.
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One man who's expecting a busy weekend is Andy Milligan, the 54 year-old manager of Hyper Bar. Andy, who has lived in Bootle for over four decades, knows Greenwood's family well.
While many of them will be swapping Bootle for Basel to watch the final live, he is still expecting a big turnout. Speaking to the ECHO ahead of the game, Andy said: 'I've known some of the family for many years.
"I've been in touch with Alex's mum. There will be some family members here, but the bulk of them are all going over to the final themselves.
'I had the whole gang year for the very first game, about 30 to 40 of them. They were all made up with the turnout, but then the result wasn't what they wanted (a 2-1 defeat against The Netherlands.) We've been in touch constantly throughout.'
Andy hopes that Greenwood's mural is a symbol of Bootle's regeneration. The town is set for a £2m-a-year financial boost for the next decade by the government, which Andy says is much needed after HMRC, a large employer in the town, closed its offices in 2022.
He said: 'It's quite surprising. It's brought a lot of attention to Stanley Road, not just to the bar. There's a lot of development work going on at the moment.
'There were about 3,500 people working across the road and all of a sudden there was none. It was a massive source of cash for the community. Hopefully moving forward, it's going to change things and it will be back to a bustling community again.
'I think what she's accomplished so far has inspired a lot of people. I think women's football has become much, much bigger. There's a lot of people talking about it. It's become one of the main topics at the moment, along with the Isak transfer to Liverpool. A 5pm kick-off should work well for turnout.'
Despite her success, Andy says Greenwood remains grounded in the real world. He said: 'She's a very down to earth person. She's got a really nice personality. She's very family oriented. That's a big thing for her mum, her sister and the rest of the gang. They are all very close.'
Andy feels that England's route to the final, which involved a victory on penalties in the quarter-final and a late winner in extra-time of the semi-final has set up an enticing contest.
He said: 'They're literally battled to get there which is building the excitement. Spain are a very talented side, a very quick side. It's building up to be what could be a really great final.'