Stanway reveals she takes Shearer Match Attax card late gran gave her to England camps

England were living the dream against Norway, and it all started with Georgia Stanway following in the footsteps of her hero Alan Shearer.

The Lionesses secured their passage into the next round of the Women’s Euro 2022 by recording an emphatic 8-0 victory at Brighton’s Amex Stadium, giving Sarina Wiegman’s side six points from a possible six so far in the competition.

While Beth Mead attracted the headlines with a hat-trick on the night, it was Bayern Munich star Stanway who set England on their way with a penalty after just 12 minutes of the game.

And it was a strike from the spot that would have made her hero, Newcastle United legend Shearer, proud as she drilled the ball into the top corner of the net.

Born in Cumbria, the 23-year-old grew up as a Magpies supporter and spoke openly about why Shearer is much more than a footballing hero to her.

In fact, Big Al has played such a big role as her inspiration that she keeps a 16-year-old trading card of his likeness with her at England camps – although there is a more personal reason why that card is her most valuable possession.

Speaking in an England Q&A about superstitions, the Lionesses star explained: “This is probably something which is a little bit different, but I have an Alan Shearer Match Attax from 2006.

“As a kid, I used to collect them and my Nana’s favourite player was Alan Shearer so whenever I got him, I would always give it to my Nana.

“She used to keep some of them and then get rid of the ones which weren’t special or the shiny ones.

“Just before she died, she gave me the Match Attax back so it is sentimental.

“I still have it and I took to my first England camp with me so it is important to me.”

Stanway also spoke of her early memories of Shearer in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT last year.

She said: “Growing up, I was a keen cricketer as well, so I took both cricket and football pretty seriously. Then it got to about 14 or 15 where I had to pack in the cricket, because football was taking over and I knew that I wanted to pursue that one a little bit more.

“Off the back of that, I kind of knew I wanted to be a footballer but at the time, where I wanted that to be my job, it wasn’t a job. So, I looked into other career paths. I always fancied the Army, the RAF, Police officer [or] anything that was pretty physical.

“I couldn’t sit in the office. I couldn’t ask people [to do] interviews! It just had to be something physical and something I could be involved in hands on.

“I loved Alan Shearer; He was like my idol growing up. Barrow isn’t far from Newcastle and he was kind of like a family favourite; my grandparents loved him, so I just loved him.

“I just loved his finishing. The way he scored goals is just a joke.

“I just remember I used to collect the shiny Match Attax and I had an Alan Shearer one and I’ve still got that now. It’s pretty special.”