England U17 Women

Right now the age group runs on renewal rather than continuity. The Young Lionesses train at St George's Park in Burton upon Trent, on the Sir Bobby Charlton Pitch, and use the base for most of their home fixtures.

Second place at the 2024 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship is the furthest England have got in that competition; a bronze medal from 2016 fills out the rest of the record. The World Cup has followed the same pattern — fourth in 2008, fourth again in 2024, a quarter-final in 2016 between them.

The team matters less for what it wins than for who passes through it. Lauren Hemp captained the side at the 2017 European Under-17 Championship, taking them to a final before her career carried on upward into the senior team; Lauren James did the same as captain in 2018. Rachel Daly went through the same pipeline as a European under-17 winner back in 2013, years before either of them wore the armband.

That first campaign is where the shirt started meaning anything. On 27 October 2007, in Tbilisi, England beat Georgia 13–0 in a qualifier for the 2008 European Under-17 Championship — the newly formed side's first match.