The 2022-2023 season was Bethany England’s seventh at Chelsea. The forward had won nine major trophies at the London club but was struggling for game time at the halfway mark of the season.

England then decided to take a risk – she left Chelsea for Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window in search of more games, hoping to find her way back into the England team ahead of the Women’s World Cup.

The transfer deal was a significant one – the reported £250,000 fee (approximately $300,000 at that time) was a domestic record for a British player in the women’s game.

Leading the attack at Spurs, England went on to score 12 goals in 12 Women’s Super League matches and achieved what she had hoped for – earning her spot in coach Sarina Wiegman’s’ squad for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

“It was a big risk. I’d been at Chelsea for seven years, that was a big part of my professional career, and I didn’t like the thought of change,” England told reporters last week. “I could’ve stayed in my comfort zone, but ultimately, I didn’t want to be in a position where I didn’t give everything to going (to the World Cup). I would’ve regretted that looking back on my career.”

England, who was part of last year's European Championship-winning squad but did not play during the tournament, said she could not contain her happiness when she got the nod from Wiegman.

“I tried to play it nice and cool, but I hung up the phone and screamed my house down. The first thing I did was ring my mum, ring my partner. Obviously, I was elated,” the 29-year-old added.

While the decision to leave her long-time club Chelsea for fellow London side, Spurs, seemed daunting, England knew she had to make the switch to improve her situation.

After all, she had missed the national team’s victory at the Arnold Clark Cup, and the inaugural Finalissima as Wiegman dropped her from the squad following the 2022 Euros triumph.

“The situation I was in, I wasn’t being used, I was on the bench, and as Sarina rightly said, I wasn’t getting picked (for the national team) because I wasn’t getting the minutes,” England explained.

“It was up to me to make sure I was not only getting the minutes but making the minutes count and I did that at Spurs. I can’t thank them enough for giving me the chance to go out and be happy again.”

England, voted the WSL Player of the Season in 2019-20, has scored 11 goals in 21 international appearances for the national team since making her debut in August 2019.

Although now established as a No. 9, she is a versatile player, capable of playing in midfield and even at wing-back.

While England is happy to be back in the squad, she is sure to face competition to seal her place in the starting line-up, with WSL’s player of the season, Rachel Daly, among the forwards along with Lauren James, Chloe Kelly, and Alessia Russo.

The Lionesses, who won bronze in Canada in 2015 and came fourth in 2019 in France, begin their World Cup campaign on July 22 against Haiti in Brisbane. They also have Denmark and China in Group D.