Chelsea Women star England amazed Everton tie was called off due to frozen pitch

Beth England is still amazed that Chelsea’s game at Everton last weekend was called off because of a frozen pitch.

But then her response to harsh conditions is hardly surprising when you discover how she used to spend this time of year.

‘I used to do the Christmas orders at Marks and Spencer, so I would spend three night shifts in the freezer preparing them,’ she says.

No wonder she would have been happy to play. Another element to her frustration is that Chelsea are now trailing Manchester City going into Sunday's match at Kingsmeadow.

Despite having been unbeaten in seven games this season, the postponed fixture means they are third, behind City in second and Arsenal on top.

The rescheduled match may not take place until April or May and England is not over it, five days on from the futile trip north.

‘A lot of the players were on the pitch and we felt it was fine,’ she says. ‘I get that the referees want to be safe but if the players deem it eligible to play — because we’re the ones that have to play on it — surely our voice would matter in that situation? But it clearly didn’t.’

The forward, 25, is celebrating a breakthrough year, highlighted by making her senior England debut in August, scoring for the Lionesses against Brazil in October and finishing last season as Chelsea’s top scorer.

She did, however, miss out on making the World Cup squad having gone on the pre-tournament training camp. But having started this season with four goals and two assists, she has her sights set on trophies and a spot on the plane to Tokyo 2020.

‘You can’t be naive to the fact that there’s a big Olympics coming up,’ she says. ‘Growing up I did athletics and football, so if I could turn to my parents and say “look I’m going to an Olympics”, again it’s another dream come true.

‘It’s a Catch-22 because you have to focus on your club. You can’t be thinking about it too much because your priority is here. I want to win the league and win the cups with Chelsea and if the Olympics comes that’s just an extra bonus.’

Her life now is certainly a little different from counting turkeys in a supermarket freezer.