Plenty of positives to take from 2024-25 season, says Coates

As the curtain comes down on the 2024-25 campaign for England women’s under-23s, head coach Emma Coates reflected on a season which ended on a positive note, as the Young Lionesses edged Belgium in a 2-1 win to sign off.

The WU23s boss, who was appointed in February 2023, made a balanced assessment, identifying the team’s progress on the pitch as well as first senior call-ups for a number of her players as measures of success.

“Our primary function is to develop players for the senior team and if you were to take the five players that have gone through and got a call-up this season – two have earned their senior debuts so that’s really pleasing – and we’ve had players play up from pathway into the under-23s,” explained Coates.

“From an on the pitch point of view, whilst we haven’t had the results that we would’ve liked, I’m really pleased with the way the girls are trying to apply the style of play against the level of opposition.

“That’s what this programme is there to do – to play top level games against really tough tier one opposition to prepare them for the next level.”

WHAT a way to make your England debut.

Michelle Agyemang 💫 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/DS4uZPh1uM

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) April 8, 2025

After helping the WU19s qualify for this summer’s EUROs in Poland, Michelle Agyemang was rewarded with a call-up to Sarina Wiegman’s senior side, replacing the injured Alessia Russo who was forced to withdraw.

The 19 year old made an instant impact, coming on as a substitute for her debut in Leuven against Belgium and it took her just 41 seconds to find the back of the net on her bow.

“I think Michelle should be super proud of herself and I know there’ll be a lot of people who have supported her across her journey,” said Coates.

“The way Michelle has been managed through the pathway – from maximising the under-23s experience and ability to go and perform in UEFA competitions with the under-19s – hopefully we’ve done everything we can in the pathway to set her up.

“I’m just really pleased for it. It’s exactly what the pathway is there to do.”

Another Young Lioness who caught the eye of Wiegman was Maisie Symonds. The Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder was selected by the England head coach to be a part of her squad for this month’s international camp.

“Again, Maisie should be really proud of herself,” continued Coates. “She’s worked really hard to be in the position that she’s in. She’s such a technical player.

“It should provide more motivation and inspiration for those that are currently in the under-23s around who’s going to be the next one through because there’s been a lot of positive examples of that.”

From Shrewsbury to Stevenage, the WU23s have had the chance to play in front of home crowds up and down the country this season, with games streamed live via the official England YouTube channel.

And, according to Coates, it has only benefitted her players on a handful of levels.

“I think the players have really felt the privilege of playing for their country, the added media exposure and profile,” said Coates. “All of that stuff comes with the pride of representing England.

“The connections to the fans and the exposure they get is really important. The girls love the home games and I know the opposition love our home games as well because the experience is so good.

“We say to them all the time going into a home game that you don’t know who’s going to pop up in the first team in the imminent future or long-term future, so there’s been lots of experiences where fans have come down, seen a player and in a month or so’s time, they’ve seen them playing in the seniors and that’s what it’s about.”