A WOMAN with a love for football has spoken about her "amazing" experience at England's World Cup final over the weekend.
Michelle Hoggett, 37, from Ellesmere Port, moved to Australia in 2011 after traveling there for a year.
After starting to play football when she was nine and developing a love for the sport, Michelle now coaches football for young children in Perth, where she now lives.
For the Women's World Cup 2023, Michelle applied to be a volunteer driver for FIFA throughout the tournament.
She volunteered for three weeks and did 12 shifts, driving around FIFA officials and managers and got to watch all of the matches that were in Peth.
Michelle was lucky enough to attend the Women's World Cup final on Sunday (August 20), where the Lionesses took on Spain.
Speaking to the Globe about the England team, Michelle said: "I got interested in them during the Euros. I got up early over here to watch all of their games and watched the final.
"With the volunteering I was doing, one of the FIFA guys had a spare ticket for the final as he had gone back to Brazil so it was impossible to turn down.
"I only got the ticket on Saturday morning and was on a plane by 3pm. It's a five-hour flight to Sydney so wasn't a small trip.
"I met up with some of the girls from my football team in Sydney before the game."
Unfortunately, the Lionesses were beaten 1-0 but Michelle explained that the atmosphere in the stadium was "amazing" nonetheless.
She said: "It was absolutely amazing. It was such a good experience.
"The build-up was massive in Sydney, they really got behind it. The stadium was packed out. The English supporters massively outnumbered the Spanish in the stadium.
"It was like being at an England home game to be honest, it was that loud. It was a pleasure to be there."
Speaking about Women's football, Michelle said it is a "big thing" for her that the women are being recognised.
"It's probably similar to the Matilda's over here", she said.
"It's completely changed the game.
"I was on the train with my England shirt on the day after the final and a random man was speaking to me about the game and it wasn't mentioned that it was a women's football match, it was just a match, which was amazing.
"That's a big thing for me especially, it's being recognised as just football not women's football."
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