‘Cheeky but humble’: What you need to know about soon-to-be Lioness Aggie Beever-Jones

After an impressive breakthrough season in which she won the Women’s Super League with Chelsea, Aggie Beever-Jones is the latest youngster to earn a chance with England.

The 20-year-old forward was called up to the senior Lionesses squad for the first time ahead of back-to-back European Championship qualifiers against France following a strong domestic campaign, and could make her debut at St James’ Park on Friday.

Among English players, only Lauren James (13 goals) and Alessia Russo (12) scored more times in the WSL campaign than Beever-Jones with 11. That saw her score a goal every 62 minutes she was on the pitch, giving her the best minutes-per-goal ratio of anybody in the division with more than four goals.

Millie Bright, a Chelsea and now England team-mate, feels Beever-Jones’ technical skills have “gone through the roof” this season, adding: “We’ve seen her throughout the season coming on as a sub and being really influential in the game, whether that’s for 10 minutes, 15, she’s done her job and adapted really quickly to knowing how to be the best that she can be in small minutes really. And, ultimately, it’s just how mature she is.

“She’s like a sponge in these sorts of environments [international camp], she takes everything in, and she’s having fun while she does it which is the most important thing.”

‘ABJ’ can play anywhere across the front line

After Rachel Daly’s retirement from international football, Beever-Jones’s chances of getting on the pitch for England are increasing and she could be seen as a back-up central striker behind Russo.

Beever-Jones can also play out wide on either flank or drop deeper as a No 10. Asked what her favoured position is, she replied: “At my club I play sometimes nine, sometimes wing, and with the chats I’ve had with Sarina (Wiegman) we’re looking at that as a positive, that I can kind of play anywhere in the frontline. Myself, I enjoy playing all three, and I’m looking at it as, ‘If I can play more positions, it’s more opportunities for me’. So to be honest, I don’t really know, but if I’m on the pitch, I’m happy.”

A success story of the loan system

After joining Chelsea’s youth system aged nine, once she signed professional terms with the club in 2021 aged 18 Beever-Jones had to bide her time to break into the first team. She went on loan to Bristol City in 2021-22 in the Championship and then undertook another loan spell for the 2022-23 campaign with Everton in the WSL.

Chelsea’s coaching staff were always optimistic about her prospects once she had gained sufficient experience and Beever-Jones herself said: “I think I always knew what I was capable of and so it was just about being able to show it in high-pressure situations and I think that’s where I owe a lot of my success to Emma [Hayes].

“I remember once she said that, ‘For some people the weight of the [Chelsea] badge is too heavy’, and I thought, ‘I want to be able to show what I can do in high-pressure situations’. I credit a lot of my success to the whole of Chelsea and helping me develop.”

Marbella training camp boosted her chances

England’s pathway coaches have also played a big part in the development of Beever-Jones, who has been playing youth international football since under-15 level.

In February, a big break came Beever-Jones’s way when England Under-23s enjoyed a joint trip with the senior squad to Spain and during that training camp Wiegman promoted her to the seniors’ substitutes bench for a friendly against Austria.

“To be a part of that and to kind of have a taste of what it was like to be a senior, it kind of solidified what I wanted and what I needed to do to get there,” Beever-Jones said.

A ‘cheeky’ but humble youngster

“She’s quite cheeky, actually,” said Bright of Beever-Jones’s character. “I know she might come across as an angel, maybe as it’s her first cap she’s a bit shy, but she’s a really good character, a really good girl. I think she’s super-humble, super-caring and committed and whatever task you give her she’ll fulfil to the best of her ability.”

Beever-Jones revealed that she nearly missed her first call-up call from Wiegman because she mistook the head coach’s phone number for that of a spam call, explaining: “I originally wasn’t sure who it was and I thought, ‘It’s probably one of those people calling about windows or something’, because I’ve had that hundreds of times. Then the call came through again and I thought, ‘Maybe I should answer it’.

“So I said, ‘Hello’, maybe not in the most polite way, thinking it was the window people. I didn’t actually hear an answer so I ended it and then it came through again and I saw Sarina’s face pop up and I thought, ‘Oh god, I better answer it!’ Then I was smiling from ear to ear.

“It’s what dreams are made of as young kids, and I’m trying not to get too ahead of myself and I’m just focusing on what I can control, and training well, and then we’ll see what happens.”