11 June 2005
Katie Chapman and Rachel Unitt Exclusive

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England room-mates Rachel Unitt and Katie Chapman will have both turned just 23 by the close of Women’s Euro 2005. Yet despite their age both have already amassed more than 40 international caps each.

It leaves them in the slightly ambiguous position of being young veterans, but as Katie exclusively told TheFA.com after training, it is a position in the camp they are happy to hold.

"It’s really weird," said the Three Lions’ combative central midfielder, "People talk to us as though we’re more experienced players but we’re still young - for us it’s brilliant to be experienced and be so young as well though.

"I think the younger players look up to us and they come to us for advice - we’ve played at this level for quite some time now so it’s nice to give them a bit of advice about crowds and things like that, and get rid of their nerves really.

"They’re doing brilliantly though - to go out there and play in front of the crowds they have and perform as well as they have has been fantastic."

With crowds of over 29,000 and 14,500 at England’s first two games against Finland and Denmark, Saturday’s match against Sweden looks set to once more exceed the pre-Euro 2005 English attendance record of 14,107.

"The support’s been great - 29,000 for the first game and almost 15,000 for the second," enthused England left-back Rachel Unitt.

"I’d played in front of 14,000 before but 29,000 was amazing and when the crowd got behind us it was such a buzz. To get a result on my birthday made it even better.

"A big crowd for Saturday’s game will help us, so hopefully a lot of people will come down to this one."

It is set up to be the game of the tournament to date, with both sides needing to win to be guaranteed a place in the Semi-Finals. And Rachel is hoping all the hard yards before the tournament will pay dividends.

"I did two or three hours of training a day, consisting of speed, biometrics and aerobics, plus strength sessions plus games," she said. "And I also went up to Lilleshall and did a bit of work on speed and fitness.

"It was pretty tough, but hopefully we’ll get a result on Saturday and show that all the hard work has paid off.

"I think this game is probably the most important of our lives yet - it’s a must-win game for us. To get a result would be fantastic and whether it was the Germans, French or Norwegians in the Semi Final we’d be ready for them."

There is also the added incentive that should England qualify in second, they would play the Semi-Final on Katie’s birthday. But she knows it won’t be easy.

"It’s going to be very tough, very physical," she explained. "They’re very fit and obviously have the two key players up front, but I think we’re pretty confident.

"The team spirit’s good and we’re all feeling good so we just want to get out there and play now and hopefully get the result.

"And the Semi-Final’s on my birthday so we definitely want to be in that one!"

Over 20,000 tickets have sold so far for the crunch match, which kicks off at 6pm, so make sure you are there to cheer on England, too.

Call the Blackburn ticket office on 08701 123 456
Tickets

Phone: 08701 123 456

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£5 - Adults

£2.50 - Concessions


There is also a Special group rate: £1 per ticket for groups of 15 or more (must include three adults per group of 15 to supervise children), download the form above.