Ella Toone reflects on her 100th appearance for Manchester United and scoring for England

Ella Toone is describing the moment she realised, while on her way to England’s last international camp, that she had forgotten something rather important.

‘I’d just played Brighton, got home, sorted my bag out then got in a car that picked me up for camp. I was on my way down and I thought ‘I’ve forgotten my boots’. So I rang my dad and said ‘are my boots in the hall?’, he said ‘yeah’, so I had to turn back around to get them. What a nightmare.

‘The guy who was driving me, I was thinking ‘is he fuming?’ Because he didn’t speak to me. So I said ‘I’m really sorry about this’ and he just started laughing his head off. He said ‘you’re not the first and you definitely won’t be the last.’

This was the same day Toone, 22, had made her 100th appearance for Manchester United, the club she grew up supporting. ‘When you’ve played for United once it’s a dream come true but then to make 100 appearances is really special,’ Toone says. ‘It’s something I’ve always wanted to do since being a little girl and being at the academy. I’m really grateful that I’ve managed to do that at the club I love. My family are really proud too.’

Ella Toone has been reflecting on her career to date and what she hopes to achieve

Toone was speaking ahead of a visit to the Bloomsbury Football Foundation

Toone’s down to earth personality makes her a fan favourite for both United and England. Most recently, she appeared on Jill Scott’s ‘Coffee Club’ podcast, where she joked she wanted to be a DJ in Ibiza – before revealing her favourite music to songs by Elton John and ABBA.

‘My dad used to drive me to training and back and he only ever put Smooth Radio on so I only ever thought there was a Smooth Radio and no other Radio,’ Toone laughs. ‘I love old music. I bought me and my mum some tickets for him [Elton John].’

Putting her music on in the changing room has been a hard sell to her team-mates, however.

‘No chance, they don’t let me. I request ABBA and stuff like that or Motown but they’re not having any of it.’

Toone is speaking to Sportsmail ahead of a visit to Bloomsbury Football Foundation, on behalf of her drinks partner Wow Hydrate.

Toone said scoring for her country was ‘special’ and hopes she can keep up her England record

The United forward managed three assists and four goals during England’s last international break

‘It’s really important for me to be able to give back,’ Toone says. ‘When I was younger, because women’s football wasn’t as big, it was harder to look up to people. Now we are role models to young girls and we want to be the best role models we can be.’

Toone is not only a role model to young United fans, but to the up and coming talent in the club’s academy. The U21 side, led by manager Charlotte Healy, have already won the WSL Academy Cup and finished top of the Northern Division. They have a 3-1 lead from the first leg of their play-off against winners of the Southern Division, Chelsea, with the second leg taking place next week.

‘They’re very good,’ Toone says of the players in the youth set-up. ‘There’s a lot of great talent in that squad and it just shows that they’ve done really well this year.

‘I think it’s great for them that they’ve got something to look up to and to try and break into. A lot of them have come up and trained with us and been a part of the first team environment. It’s great that we’ve finally got that now for everyone involved in the RTC. It’s something I always wished I had but it’s great now for us to be role models to them and that they have something they can dream and work towards.

United are third in the Women’s Super League with only three matches of the season to go

‘They just have to keep working hard and do everything they can to be a true professional and take their chance when it comes. Most of all, enjoy yourself. You’re playing for Manchester United so make sure you enjoy it.’

The Red Devils are currently third in the Women’s Super League, three points ahead of rivals City having played a game more. United have a marginally better goal difference but the battle for the final Champions League spot will likely go down to the final day of the season.

‘We set a target for ourselves at the start of the season and we’ve put ourselves in this position now that we can go on and achieve what we set out to. We know we have to take each game as it comes, there’s no point looking at the last game when you’ve got Aston Villa first.

‘We’re really positive, we’ve got a great group. We’re feeling really confident, as we should do because we’ve got a good team and great players. Hopefully we’ll put on three good performances.’

Their final game of the season sees them travel to Chelsea, who will likely need to win to be crowned champions. United have been given an away section for the game, something which the club’s fans are keen to see more. Toone agrees that having regular away sections can make for better atmospheres.

‘One hundred percent [it makes a difference]. I think the away area is definitely great for United fans because we travel in numbers and we’re very loud. When you go out you look for where the noise is coming from. You see all the flags and the familiar faces, it’s good to know that they’re there. It’s great to know where they are when we step out onto the pitch.

‘We’ve got a great fan base behind us and they’ve backed us since day one. They’ve come up and down, every home and away game and they travel in numbers. When you’re out on the pitch they’re your 12th man. They sing loud and proud every week.

The 22-year-old is having a superb Women’s Super League season for Manchester United

‘Every time we step out onto the pitch we want to put on a performance for them, to thank them for the support they give us. Hopefully we can get even more fans involved. We’re really grateful for the ones we’ve got now and we want to finish the season strong for them.’

Toone is having an impressive season herself. The forward is leading the WSL for assists with eight, three more than she managed last season, and also has six goals.

‘The goal this season was to create more assists and score more goals as well. I’ve managed to do that with the assists but I think that’s just because I’ve been getting to know the players even better and we’ve built those relationships off the pitch which have helped on the pitch as well.’

The forward also managed three assists and four goals during England’s last international break. She now has 10 goals in just 13 appearances for the Lionesses. Toone has cemented her place in the squad under Sarina Wiegman and will almost certainly be part of the 23-player squad for this summer’s home Euros.

‘I only made my debut a year ago and I’ve managed to play in a lot of games since then which has been great for me. Sarina has really put her trust in me and given me an opportunity, I’ve really tried to take it with both hands and just enjoy each game. Scoring for England is so special, hopefully I can keep doing that.

‘There’s a lot of competition in the squad but I think that’s because there’s so much talent.’

Toone wants to see United play more matches in front of big crowds at men’s stadiums

Toone and her United team-mates recently played at Old Trafford in front of fans for the first time and playing at bigger stadiums is something she’d like to see more of in the women’s game.

‘I think we should have more opportunities maybe to play in more men’s stadiums or bigger stadiums.

‘I think things are getting better in the women’s game with training facilities, being broadcasted on TV and things like that, we’re really happy to where it’s going and we only want to keep improving it more.’

Ella Toone was visiting Bloomsbury Football Foundation on behalf of her drinks partner WOW HYDRATE. The sports drink have teamed up with the football club to provide bursary placements for young people so that they can play football. The donation has enabled 18 girls to get a placement at the grassroots football club.

Bloomsbury Football uses the power of football to improve the lives of young people in London.

For more information on the campaign, visit www.wowhydrate.com