The next generation of football stars being inspired by Bearstead's own Alessia Russo

KentOnline / KMTV

Russo, who grew up in Maidstone and went to St Simon Stock Catholic School and East Farleigh Primary School, scored England’s crucial equalising goal against Spain to help take the game to penalties.  Gabriel Morris reports

Transcript

00:00Years of hard graft happened on this pitch, shaping the lioness she is today.

00:06These two young footballers, trained at Bearstead FC, see Alessia Russo as their inspiration,

00:13especially after meeting her before the Euros.

00:16Good luck, Bearstead Bells! Good luck!

00:19And if it weren't for Russo's equaliser yesterday, the final score might have told a different story.

00:26She was amazing and her goal, it was just amazing.

00:31It was absolutely brilliant, the crowd went wild.

00:35Holly and Phoebe say they picked up a few tricks from their idol's performance

00:40and can't wait to test them out on the pitch.

00:43I would love to be a lioness like Russo because it's just amazing to be in front of a crowd and performing.

00:52What about you?

00:53I want to be like Russo because I know that she'll be more confident in what she was doing.

01:01This morning the club revealed a mural to mark Russo's rise from local talent to global star.

01:08She started her football journey at West Farley before moving to Bearstead FC

01:13where she played for both the girls and the boys teams.

01:18She scored 76 goals in one season.

01:21She's just showed that little bit of inspiration to the rest of the girls.

01:25And it came through really on Sunday as well, really, what her determination is.

01:31Russo says she couldn't wait to play after school and in 2010 she led her school to victory in the KM's Mini World Cup.

01:40But after that she moved on to play for Charlton, then joining Chelsea before heading to the States for University

01:48where her football career kept climbing.

01:51Eventually returning to England and joining the national team.

01:55And as they say, the rest is history.

01:58Despite her rise, Russo has stayed close to Bearstead FC.

02:03Her legacy has helped boost girls football here with more teams forming and more young players signing up.

02:09For the girls this season, it's their first season playing together as under-8s.

02:13The Bearstead have given us the go ahead to run an under-8s team.

02:16So it's actually the first ever under-8s team for Bearstead.

02:19So it's a privilege and an honour to run this under-8s team.

02:25And hopefully we smash them out of the pot this season.

02:28Now all eyes turn to the Women's World Cup in two years.

02:32Holly and Phoebe might be a bit too young for that.

02:35But who knows, we could see them on the international stage in 2035 following Russo's footsteps.

02:43Gabriel Morris for KNTV in Bearstead.

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