Lioness’s family to cheer hero from her local pub | Manchester News

In a humble pub in the Greater Manchester town of Tyldesley, anticipation for the Women’s Euro final between England and Spain is reaching a fever pitch.

The Union Arms is Lioness Ella Toone’s local – where her family have been going for some four decades and where the star used to go with her biggest supporter, her late father, after football training as a child.

And since the Manchester United midfielder went professional, it has become the place the Tyldesley community comes together to watch all her big matches.

“We have all the family come in, her friends all come in, they always sit in the same place and everybody just gets involved,” licensee Sharon Mattin said.

“The relationship the pub has with the family, it goes back to years before I was here. From her granddad to her dad, her uncles, and now all the cousins who’ve all grown up as well from being babies when I knew some of them.”

Ms Mattin said she first met Toone when she was nine years old and had come in to enjoy a Coke with her father after football training, but she had no idea she was meeting a future star.

“We had a little bit of a chat like with her dad and nan and I said to her, ‘oh, good luck with your football’ and just carried on doing something,” she said.

She said the Union Arms had become known as the place to support the town’s local hero, with people travelling from across England to watch the games there.

Custom Ella Toone bucket hats are often distributed to punters while a mural of Toone after the Lionesses were crowned Euro champions in 2022 adorns the outside wall.

“When they won the Euros we said let’s have this done, this moment needs something,” Ms Mattin said.

“There’s people, when they go to Leigh [Sports Village] to watch United, they come to have a look at it and get photos taken with it, which I never thought was going to happen.”

One of Toone’s aunties, Tracy Haslam, will be among the proud supporters at the Union Arms later.

Ms Haslam said the Euros had been particularly emotional for the family, as it was the first international tournament since her brother and Toone’s father, Nick, died in September.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer the day after the Lionesses beat Germany to win Euro 2022.

“He went to all the away games, he went to the World Cup. He used to be right by her side all the time when it came to a football,” Ms Haslam said.

“It’s just a bit harder now her dad’s not here. There’s a lot of firsts when you lose someone close.

“It’s quite hard for when she plays a game, you can see it sometimes, that she misses him.”

Toone first played for local club Astley & Tyldesley before being accepted into Manchester United’s academy, later joining the Blackburn Rovers.

Ms Haslam said Toone stayed true to her roots as her career took off – making her senior debut with Manchester City in 2016 before signing for United in 2018 and then being called up to play for England in 2021.

“We see her quite a bit. We just get involved in everything together, we’re a very close family,” Ms Haslam said.

“When people say what is she like at home? We just say, she’s no different than what she’s always been.

“She’s just kind. She’s just Ella to us.”