Archive July 1, 2025

Gemma Grainger is easily confused with a Norwegian, which is understandable. She appears to be very at home while enjoying the day outside a coffee shop close to her Oslo apartment. It’s only when she speaks and you hear her north-east accent do you realise, she is distinctly English.

According to 5’10” Grainger, “I always believed that I was tall before I arrived here.” Because I’m only average-height here, which is nice, I realized these are my people.

The 42-year-old from Middlesbrough took over as head coach of Norway’s women’s team 18 months ago. And since then, she has had to adapt to and build a new culture off the pitch.

When she leads the national team into the Euros, she will face the biggest challenge of her career this week. It also makes her the only English head coach at the tournament.

There are no “mixed allegiances” here, though for Grainger, who was formerly head coach of Wales and assistant coach of the Lionesses under Mark Sampson.

I’ve spent the majority of my career working on this. So, I’m incredibly proud and privileged to work with this group of players.

They saw something in me, they gave me this opportunity, they said. And that’s what I want to get back. So, when we go into this tournament, I want to be the coach that can bring this team success.

You first notice Grainger’s very composed demeanor as one of her characteristics. Her genuine love for the game is attested by the second. Even as manager of a national team, she thinks nothing of giving up an evening to coach a session to youngsters.

She and former England boss Gareth Southgate have close coaching ties with USA head coach Emma Hayes and former England boss Gareth Southgate. She has spent the past year and a half creating a “holistic” culture in Norway that enables the players to be themselves. She sees players as people first.

“As an international manager, it’s about taking care of people. She says it’s about making sure that both when they arrive and when they depart are eager to return.

“I make sure they can be who they are when they are here.” And from my perspective, I really value leadership within the team, so I give them the opportunity to own that.

And the squad, which includes Norway’s captain Ada Hegerberg, has enjoyed her warm embrace.

” She’s a very empathic woman, “she told BBC Sport”. She first recognizes the human in you, which I greatly value. We’ve had a lot of funny conversations, and I like that because she’s a very intelligent woman.

“It’s been really refreshing for us to get that mentality into the group. She has been a big help to us.

Guro Bergsvand, defender, echoed her thoughts. “She’s very calm and very passionate about what she wants from the team and what values we have as a team.

She cares about each player, but she wants to get the most out of them. She won’t be the locker room screamer, she says.

Norway’s previous appearance at a major tournament, the 2023 World Cup, was overshadowed by player unrest under former coach Hege Riise.

The Norwegian FA’s president, Lise Klaveness, acknowledges that Grainger was not on their initial list of candidates when they began hiring new head coaches because it was only added to increase the number of women they saw. They were certain they had the right person when Grainger sat in their presence.

” She really impressed us through a very thorough process. She loves football and is very nerdy. She is very knowledgeable, welcoming, and caring.

Norway were once a powerhouse of women’s football. They won the World Cup in 1995, the Olympic gold medal in 2000, and the title of European champion in 1987 and 1993. Despite spawning a long list of international stars, recent tournaments have not been kind to the side.

They last reached a major final at the European Championship in 2013 and have failed to get out of the group at the last two Euros. They were humiliated 8-0 by the Lionesses in the group stage of the 2022 tournament.

Under Grainger, they defeated Northern Ireland 7-0 on aggregate to advance to the Euros via the play-offs, despite having inconsistent results in their most recent Women’s Nations League group, where they placed second behind France.

This summer they open their tournament against hosts Switzerland and then play Finland and Iceland in Group A.

The only option is up, according to Grainger.

One of my biggest strengths is that I don’t feel what the players feel, which is one of my biggest strengths. I see the potential in this team.

Norwegians are very passionate about football, according to the Norwegian. The national team has a lot of passion. So, for us, there is pressure. We want to make sure you see a team you enjoy watching as well as the country as a whole.

We should expect to “get out the group,” he said. I’m not going to sit here and say we’re going to win it, because we want to take a game at a time. Although it sounds corny and boring, that’s how it’s going to be.

The margins are good, and they’re getting better, according to the women’s football team.

” We’re going to see a lot of teams putting themselves under pressure to win it because I think expectations are high in many countries. But it’s really about making sure we’re the team we want to be.

Despite not scheming for the spotlight, Grainger’s extensive and impressive coaching resume. From starting out at Leeds United 15 years ago, she quickly moved her way through the England youth teams which gave her valuable experience of major tournaments.

And without a doubt, that is one of the reasons Lionesses head coach Sampson approached her to join the senior coaching team for the 2017 Euros. England reached the semi-finals of a competition.

” I predominately worked with the forward players in that tournament. So, working with Jodie Taylor, who won the Golden Boot, is one of my favorite memories from the game. That is something I fondly recall.

However, when asked if she would like to work for the England team as manager again, the answer is clear: She is currently only interested in Norway.

“Right now, I’m incredibly happy. I’m doing exactly the right thing with the work I’m doing with Norway and the support I have here. But I might become interested in something one day.

Grainger got her first senior international head coach role when Wales appointed her in 2021, which she says was a “very proud” moment, and went on to guide them to the brink of World Cup qualification in 2023.

She claimed she knew it was an option she could not turn down when Norway approached her three years later.

Grainger could face one of her former sides in Group D if Norway makes it to the semi-finals. Grainger could face both England and Wales in Group D.

Grainger still splits her time between Norway and England, but her Norwegian is a work in progress.

“I now comprehend it. Because English is a smaller language, there are many words that are used, which is good for me. But it’s coming along and it’s something that I’ve tried to embrace. However, the team discussions continue in English.

After receiving treatment for viral meningitis, midfielder Aitana Bonmati has made his debut for Spain against Switzerland in the Euro 2025.

The 27-year-old missed Leganes last week’s 3-1 friendly victory over Japan because he missed training and treatment in a Madrid hospital.

Bonmati, who has won the past two Ballon d’Ors, was released from hospital on Sunday, but is unlikely to play in Spain’s opening group game against Portugal on Thursday in Bern.

“We will wait for [Bonmati], whatever happens, until the end,” said Spain coach Montse Tome.

With Spain as the host nation for the World Cup in mind for the opening match, the European Championship will begin on Wednesday.

Bonmati, a key member of the side that won the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Nations League, has 30 goals in 78 games for her country.

Meningitis affects the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, and if not treated quickly, it can be serious.

Maro Itoje’s head has been in Moussa’s hands for more than a decade.

From behind the barber’s chair, Moussa has seen Itoje mature from a much-hyped teenager to a three-time 30-year-old British and Irish Lion.

Now captain for the first time, one of Itoje’s final appointments before departing for Australia is to have his mane trimmed.

“It has been a while,” says Itoje of his and Moussa’s relationship.

“It is going to be a challenge on tour.

“You always have to have some trust – a bit of a leap of faith – when you walk into a new barber’s chair. Especially in Australia, where I don’t think they are too used to Afro-Caribbean hair! “

Faith, and contingency plans, will be a theme for Itoje over the next five weeks.

When asked about how religion fitted into his tactics, former Labour spin guru Alastair Campbell famously said “we don’t do God”.

Itoje, who was introduced to Campbell by England team manager Richard Hill as a youngster and remains in touch, definitely does.

At his unveiling as Lions captain in May, he revealed he had missed Bible study to be there.

When he was promoted to England captain in January, his pastor was one of six people he told before the public announcement.

Asked about the long journey to both posts, Itoje has a simple explanation: “God’s timing is always the best time. “

“In the last two or three years I have made a conscious decision to double down in that regard,” he tells BBC Sport.

“I was probably a lukewarm Christian for a large part of my life. I was probably someone who went to church, but was not really living the principles or values of it that deeply, but I have always been a believer.

“The humility that I have tried to embody throughout my life definitely comes from knowing that everything I have has been a gift, not by my own doing, but by the guy upstairs. “

By Itoje’s high standards and own admission, that humility wasn’t always present on previous Lions tours.

He has described his 22-year-old self, who won over the Lions fans’ sea of red in New Zealand in 2017, as “a little bit brash and a bit naive”.

“I try to have a daily amount of time that I spend, whether that is reading the Bible or praying, ideally both,” he explains.

“I also try and do Bible study once or twice a week at least.

“I am going to try and maintain the system I have over in Australia, with Zoom and Whatsapp video calls. “

Itoje’s previous Lions tours have come down to the wire.

In New Zealand, his team was ahead for only three minutes across three Tests, but came away with a drawn series.

In South Africa, four years later, Morne Steyn’s kick, two minutes from time in the deciding third encounter, dashed the tourists’ dreams.

The margins are small. The emotions are vast. The pressure is a thousand leagues deep.

It can scramble the composure of the best. But Itoje has his philosophy and his peace.

“Sport is unpredictable, you don’t know how things are going to transpire,” he says.

“Sometimes you can deserve to win and lose, and sometimes you can deserve to lose and win – there is not necessarily rhyme or reason for that.

“You have to just stay as consistent as possible through your actions and hope, through it all, you end up in the place you are supposed to be. “

Faith is just one part of a hinterland as wide as the outback. Itoje describes himself as having a “portfolio existence” off the pitch.

The Akoje Gallery, which Itoje founded in 2023, is a prominent part

“There is a commercial aspect to it – we want to sell art – but we also want to propel and promote art, particularly African art,” he says.

Last year, the Akoje Gallery funded residencies for seven artists to spend time developing their work at the stately Dumfries House in rural Ayrshire in Scotland.

Itoje also set up the Pearl Fund, which helps disadvantaged children in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. He has a keen interest in politics. He has a degree in it from SOAS, University of London. He has since earned a Masters degree in business as well.

As a teenage travelling reserve for Saracens, he spent a coach trip to Newcastle composing poetry. More recently he has trodden the catwalk as a model.

In April, at a Downing Street reception to mark St George’s Day, he was the star turn, giving a speech in which he talked about Englishness and identity.

“I believe human beings are multi-faceted, we are not a monolith,” he said.

“I am a rugby player, I am an athlete, but that is what I do, not who I am. I have other interests. “

He finished by jokily making a play for the job of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was standing next to him.

The breadth of his interests and the depth of his thought have triggered suspicion in some.

Former England coach Eddie Jones publicly doubted whether Itoje was captaincy material. Jones claimed Itoje was “very inward-looking” and lacked influence over his team-mates.

Itoje politely, but firmly, disagreed. So far, events seem to support the younger man.

Itoje’s clear, calm 80-minute leadership carried England to a second-place finish in this year’s Six Nations.

At Saracens, footage of his pep talks – passionate, canny and expletive-free – have been engaging viewing.

The Lions are another level. There is more scrutiny, and fewer home comforts.

As he approaches the pinnacle though, Itoje has perspective.

Except, perhaps, about the hair.

“I hope not,” he smiles when asked about the prospect of accidentally acquiring a mullet down under.