I loved football as a kid but I'm built for rugby

BETH BLACKLOCK might have been playing for England at the Euros this summer if she’d stuck to football.

- By Stuart Bathgate

Instead, she switched sports and allegiances and is now in the Scotland squad for this month’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Born in Essex, the 27-year-old centre qualifies to wear dark blue as her mother is from Kilsyth. And it was her Scottish grandad who supported her every step of the way as she started out on her football career.

She said: “I played minis [rugby] when I was eight or nine and then I asked to play football, which my dad was very disappointed in because he’s a rugby guy.

“But my grandad loves football. He was always my top supporter, taking me to all of my matches.