Lauren Hemp: I’ve done a plastering course – tiling is next

Lauren Hemp, 26, is a Manchester City and England international who left her family home in Norfolk at 16 to pursue football. Since then, she has represented her country more than 70 times, won two European Championships with the Lionesses and received an MBE for services to football. Here, she looks back at the moments that shaped her, from kicking a ball around her grandparents’ garden and practising her curtsy for Prince William to mistaking a mural of herself for an AI creation. Shorts I never thought I would play for England. When I was younger, there wasn’t such a clear pathway into professional women’s football. I loved playing, but I still worked really hard at school because I didn’t think: football is definitely going to take me where I want to go. I always dreamed of playing for England, but if you’d told me that by my mid-twenties I’d have more than 70 caps, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. The football pitch is where I get the best version of myself. As players, we love packed stadiums and crowds cheering our names. It gives you energy. I still get nervous before games, but as soon as I step onto the pitch, I feel comfortable. Winning my first Euros was my biggest pinch-me moment. I’d never won a trophy with England before, and to do it at a packed Wembley was incredibly special. The final 10 minutes of the game felt like the longest of my life. It was only afterwards that we really understood how much that tournament had changed women’s football in England. You’re so focused on playing that it’s only when you get home that you see what it meant to everybody else. On my days off, I can be really lazy. I need to rest and switch off from football. I like going for coffee, seeing friends and playing padel, but sometimes being lazy is exactly what my body needs. I’m careful about nutrition because recovery is a huge part of being a professional athlete, but I’m not perfect. I like a Nando’s and I love Italian food – pizza and pasta. Luckily, as a footballer, carbohydrates are fairly easy to justify. Lego is one of my coping mechanisms. I find it really therapeutic. It helps me relax my brain. I like having instructions to follow and something to concentrate on. Once I start, I can spend hours on it. It’s like getting hooked on a TV series. I started during Covid, when my Manchester City teammate Lucy Bronze got me a Lego set because we were stuck at home and bored. I must have 30 or 40 sets now. I practised my curtsy for hours before meeting Prince William. Receiving my MBE was a massive honour. When I first got the letter, I couldn’t quite believe it. Prince William presented it to me. I’d met him before because he comes to a lot of football matches and follows the WSL, so we had a good conversation about football. But I was still practising for hours beforehand. There is a mural of me in my hometown – I assumed it was AI. I thought my parents had created it on ChatGPT when they sent the photo. Then I went home and saw it for real. It’s still completely surreal: just this enormous picture of me on a wall in Norwich. Things like that are another reminder of how strange everything that’s happened to me would have seemed when I was younger. I get recognised more when I’m back in Norwich than I do in Manchester. The nicest thing is when young kids come over asking for photographs, because then you know you’re inspiring younger people to get into football. I don’t know exactly what I’ll do after football – and I like that. I tend to take every day as it comes. In football, your schedule changes constantly, and you never really know what’s around the corner. Obviously, I hope I’ve got many more successful years playing, but I’m excited to see what comes afterwards. I’d love to remain involved in the women’s game because I want to give something back and help it grow. But I’ve also been trying things that have absolutely nothing to do with football. I’ve done a plastering course – tiling is next. I did it recently with my teammate Laura Coombs. I wanted to explore different avenues and try something completely different. Next, we’re planning to have a go at tiling. I’d love to be that person who can help out when someone says: “I’ve got this problem, I don’t know what to do with it.” A little handy person. I really enjoyed plastering, although I definitely need more practice. My dad already wants me to plaster one of the rooms in his house, but I’m not entirely convinced I’ve got enough experience yet. Lauren Hemp stars in “The Build Up”, a three-part live LEGO® football show, available to watch on YouTube. Manchester City Women play Liverpool in the Women’s Super League on 18 September at 7pm