On Stanley Road in Bootle, a 22-ft mural of England defender Alex Greenwood is daubed onto the brick above the Hyper L20 bar.
The artwork, commissioned by Sefton Council in the wake of the Lionesses’ European Championship triumph, is an ode to a local hero, to the little girl with a big dream, who is now on the precipice of sporting immortality. On Sunday, Greenwood will take to the field at Sydney’s Stadium Australia – a venue more than 10,000 miles away from her home town in L20 – as England bid to bring the World Cup home for the first time since 1966.
The 29-year-old is already one of the most decorated football players to hail from Merseyside, having won the UEFA Women’s Champions League, a host of domestic honours and, of course, the Euros.
While Greenwood was relegated to more of a supporting role at last summer’s tournament – making five substitute appearances for Sarina Wiegman’s side – she has been front and centre at the World Cup, turning in a string of masterful displays to help England seamlessly plug the void left by injured captain Leah Williamson.
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Her performances have been so impressive she is now a real contender for the competition's Golden Ball prize. And while the statistics speak of Greenwood’s imperious defensive displays – no player at this tournament has had more touches or made more interceptions – her excellence cannot be simply distilled into those neat footballing metrics.
Yes, Greenwood has been tactically and technically brilliant, but her performances have also showcased plenty of resilience, fearlessness and an abundance of Scouse heart.
“I can’t really remember not having a ball in my hand or by my feet as a kid,” Greenwood told England Football, reflecting on the years spent kicking a ball around in the streets of Bootle. "My mum used to say, ‘as soon as I could walk, I was kicking a ball’. I used to play with the boys outside my nan’s house or outside my house.”
And it wasn’t long before Greenwood’s natural aptitude for the game became apparent, with Clare Murphy-Worrell, who taught the defender at Savio Salesian College, admitting to being taken aback by her obvious talent.
"I remember the first time I saw her play football,” Murphy-Worrell told the ECHO last year. "It was during a break time and she was on the field outside where they used to play and she was just running rings around all the lads. You just knew she had something.”
That elusive ‘something’ was first identified by Everton, who enlisted Greenwood in their youth ranks when she was just six years old. The centre-back made her senior debut for the Blues in 2010 and has attributed then-manager Mo Marley with helping to shape her career.
But when, in 2014, Everton were relegated from the Women’s Super League, Greenwood requested to leave in order to protect her national team place ahead of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup – something she has since described as “one of the hardest decisions” of her career.
After a stint with Notts County, Greenwood fulfilled a lifelong dream by signing for childhood club Liverpool. Having grown up idolising players such as Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, getting the chance to don the famous red shirt – in her own words – “felt like going home”.
But after 44 appearances and six goals, Greenwood was released by the Reds, prompting her to make the switch to Manchester United ahead of the 2018 season. While the rivalry between the two clubs in the women’s game perhaps lacks the same vitriol as the one that exists in the men’s, Greenwood has admitted she was brought up to dislike United, conceding the move was tough to take for some of her family.
But Greenwood was soon vindicated for joining the Red Devils, winning the FA Women’s Championship title in 2018 and earning a move to French champions Lyon. Greenwood’s stay in France was short but sweet: she won a quadruple of trophies before returning to England to join Manchester City.
The defender penned a new, three-year deal at the Academy Stadium earlier this year, and her influence for both club and country shows no signs of waning.
“I’m just really enjoying my football,” she said back in February. “I’m enjoying playing for England. It’s important that when you’re happy off the pitch, it replicates on the pitch.”
On Sunday, Greenwood will lace up her boots for the most important game of her life. Victory over Spain would see the Lionesses get their hands on the biggest prize in world football for the first time in their history and further accelerate the growth of the women’s game in the UK.
But, whatever happens on Sunday, Greenwood’s mural back in Stanley Road is a testament to the indelible mark she has already made on her hometown and the next generation of young girls she has inspired to play football. Win or lose, the little girl from Bootle has already done England – and Merseyside – very proud.