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WhatsApp group chats, a new ‘clicking’ celebration and ‘a day in the life’ of Beth Mead – England are doing all they can to bond as a team off the pitch.

Having booked their spot in the quarter-finals, the defending champions are gearing up for Thursday’s match against Sweden (20:00 BST).

The Lionesses overcame a heavyweight group stage, suffering defeat by France but bouncing back to record emphatic victories over the Netherlands and Wales.

It was no surprise then, to see captain Leah Williamson relaxed in front of the media on Tuesday, while forward Chloe Kelly spoke glowingly about the squad’s “finishers”.

England enjoyed themselves in their 6-1 win over Wales on Sunday as six players got their names on the scoresheet.

Among them were substitutes Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones and their celebrations caught the eye as they ran over to the bench, ran along the substitutes who were lined up on the touchline and clicked their fingers in the air.

Keira Walsh, who started in midfield and won the player of the match award, was left in the dark as to what it meant – but forward Kelly later had an explanation.

“We have a little group of us in a [WhatsApp] group chat – ‘the finishers’ as you call it – and [they were] ‘positive clicks’,” said the Arsenal winger.

“You probably saw we were all clicking, thinking ‘what are they doing?’ But it was just a positive click. We said: ‘If one of us comes on and scores, let’s do that’.

“It’s just about sticking together and being at our best when called upon, making sure we’re prepared to go on the pitch to do a great job.”

Kelly said Walsh would be “kept in the loop” from now on, but the group chat was created by Manchester United captain Maya le Tissier for the substitutes.

England’s super-subs made a big impact at Euro 2022 – Kelly scored the winner in the final against Germany, after Ella Toone had lobbed goalkeeper Merle Frohms in the same match. Alessia Russo produced a memorable backheel finish in the semi-final win over Sweden.

“Some of us didn’t have the pictures of the click celebration so that’s where the group chat came from – to send each other the pictures,” added Kelly.

It is not the only WhatsApp group chat on the go, as Lucy Bronze revealed last week they still use the one they had at Euro 2022.

Recently retired goalkeeper Mary Earps has been among those to message the squad in Switzerland, as well as former striker Ellen White.

“It’s just mostly ‘good luck’, ‘well done’ or ‘we believe in you’,” said Williamson when asked about the messages.

“For them to reinforce their belief in the team and want to be part of it, that speaks volumes of the group.

“That group chat was originally created for the [Euro 2022] celebrations, so every time it pops up, it’s not a bad thing.

The banter was there from Williamson this week, however, as she joked with the media in the build-up to England’s quarter-final tie with Sweden, dismissing suggestions that ABBA were better than The Beatles, and stressing that nobody wanted to “kill each other yet” after several weeks together in camp.

Regularly catching up with former team-mate Jill Scott, who is out in Switzerland working as a BBC pundit, is one of the many things Williamson has done to switch off from football during the tournament.

“We were begging for someone to employ her at the FA [Football Association] when she left just to bring her along,” Williamson joked.

Having spent most of Euro 2022 sleeping in between games, the centre-back has also tried to be more sociable this time around.

She missed out on the 2023 Women’s World Cup, where England reached the final, because of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, so does not want to let her experience in Switzerland pass her by.

But taking part in a ‘day in the life’ of Arsenal team-mate Mead was a step too far for Williamson.

“Keira [Walsh] always says I pick up a new hobby every tournament and never follow through with it,” said Williamson.

“Beth Mead was laughing at me the other day because I did the ‘day in the life’ of her which meant I didn’t go back to my room and I was very sociable.

WhatsApp group chats, a new ‘clicking’ celebration and ‘a day in the life’ of Beth Mead – England are doing all they can to bond as a team off the pitch.

Having booked their spot in the quarter-finals, the defending champions are gearing up for Thursday’s match against Sweden (20:00 BST).

The Lionesses overcame a heavyweight group stage, suffering defeat by France but bouncing back to record emphatic victories over the Netherlands and Wales.

It was no surprise then, to see captain Leah Williamson relaxed in front of the media on Tuesday, while forward Chloe Kelly spoke glowingly about the squad’s “finishers”.

England enjoyed themselves in their 6-1 win over Wales on Sunday as six players got their names on the scoresheet.

Among them were substitutes Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones and their celebrations caught the eye as they ran over to the bench, ran along the substitutes who were lined up on the touchline and clicked their fingers in the air.

Keira Walsh, who started in midfield and won the player of the match award, was left in the dark as to what it meant – but forward Kelly later had an explanation.

“We have a little group of us in a [WhatsApp] group chat – ‘the finishers’ as you call it – and [they were] ‘positive clicks’,” said the Arsenal winger.

“You probably saw we were all clicking, thinking ‘what are they doing?’ But it was just a positive click. We said: ‘If one of us comes on and scores, let’s do that’.

“It’s just about sticking together and being at our best when called upon, making sure we’re prepared to go on the pitch to do a great job.”

Kelly said Walsh would be “kept in the loop” from now on, but the group chat was created by Manchester United captain Maya le Tissier for the substitutes.

England’s super-subs made a big impact at Euro 2022 – Kelly scored the winner in the final against Germany, after Ella Toone had lobbed goalkeeper Merle Frohms in the same match. Alessia Russo produced a memorable backheel finish in the semi-final win over Sweden.

“Some of us didn’t have the pictures of the click celebration so that’s where the group chat came from – to send each other the pictures,” added Kelly.

It is not the only WhatsApp group chat on the go, as Lucy Bronze revealed last week they still use the one they had at Euro 2022.

Recently retired goalkeeper Mary Earps has been among those to message the squad in Switzerland, as well as former striker Ellen White.

“It’s just mostly ‘good luck’, ‘well done’ or ‘we believe in you’,” said Williamson when asked about the messages.

“For them to reinforce their belief in the team and want to be part of it, that speaks volumes of the group.

“That group chat was originally created for the [Euro 2022] celebrations, so every time it pops up, it’s not a bad thing.

The banter was there from Williamson this week, however, as she joked with the media in the build-up to England’s quarter-final tie with Sweden, dismissing suggestions that ABBA were better than The Beatles, and stressing that nobody wanted to “kill each other yet” after several weeks together in camp.

Regularly catching up with former team-mate Jill Scott, who is out in Switzerland working as a BBC pundit, is one of the many things Williamson has done to switch off from football during the tournament.

“We were begging for someone to employ her at the FA [Football Association] when she left just to bring her along,” Williamson joked.

Having spent most of Euro 2022 sleeping in between games, the centre-back has also tried to be more sociable this time around.

She missed out on the 2023 Women’s World Cup, where England reached the final, because of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, so does not want to let her experience in Switzerland pass her by.

But taking part in a ‘day in the life’ of Arsenal team-mate Mead was a step too far for Williamson.

“Keira [Walsh] always says I pick up a new hobby every tournament and never follow through with it,” said Williamson.

“Beth Mead was laughing at me the other day because I did the ‘day in the life’ of her which meant I didn’t go back to my room and I was very sociable.

“It was just unbelievable. He’s obviously an absolute superstar now but, truth be told, he was a superstar in the making after that day.”

It is 20 years ago, almost to the day, that a 16-year-old Rory McIlroy breezed round Royal Portrush – venue for this week’s 153rd Open Championship – in 61 shots to set a new course record.

Aaron O’Callaghan was one of McIlroy’s playing partners that day and says that the curly-haired teenager went to “the next level” over those 18 holes.

O’Callaghan first encountered his future Ireland team-mate when McIlroy was still in primary school and was struck by the notion of meeting a world champion of any age.

“I remember thinking, ‘like not just Northern Ireland? Not just Ireland? The best in the world?’ And it’s just this kid who’s grinning from ear to ear,” he told BBC Sport.

That was before he saw him with a club in his hand.

“He swung the same way he does now. You’re watching him with his little cut down driver or cut down seven wood and he’s just never missing the centre of the club face.

“Always right on the button, no toe slappers to the left-side of the fairway. Just flush.”

O’Callaghan would become both a friend and regular playing partner in the years that followed and recalls being “flattered” to be paired alongside McIlroy and another pal, Stephen Crowe, at the North of Ireland Championship in July 2005.

McIlroy had first played the famous Dunluce links to celebrate his 10th birthday. Around the same time he was interviewed by BBC NI and stated his aim to win ‘all of the majors’.

His three under par on the front nine of the second day at the North was noteworthy, but hardly foretold a round that would go into lore.

“I was focused on my own game for the front nine and playing quite nicely. I was kind of in it,” says O’Callaghan.

McIlroy then eagled the 10th to move to five under.

“Walking down the 11th, they’ve moved the course around a bit now, but it was a par three down the hill, and I remember him hitting a nice shot in and Stevie turned to me and said ‘Rors has got it going today’ and, to be honest, I’d hardly noticed.

“I knew he was playing well, but I didn’t realise he was five under.

“From about then I stopped thinking about my game and started looking at what he was doing.”

A quirk of the draw ensured the course record holder Randal Evans was in the group behind, given a front row seat to see his mark bettered by three strokes.

Like O’Callaghan, Evans had known McIlroy for years by the summer of 2005.

That day in Portrush he remembers being struck by a change in the prodigy.

“He dressed differently than everybody else. He dressed as if he was already a tour pro,” said Evans.

“He just looked class. Wearing white shoes, white trousers, the white t-shirt, this pink belt and hat.

“That only comes from being that good and that confident.”

As word spread about McIlroy’s score, the watching crowd swelled around the group with his playing partners feeling increasingly like spectators themselves.

“Rory would have had a following anywhere in Ireland. Wherever he went at that point, if you got drawn with him, there might be 20 guys there, just people from the club who wanted to watch him play,” said O’Callaghan.

“We started with those 20 or 25 guys, but people were obviously calling each other and saying, ‘McIlroy’s got it going here, you need to see this’. It went from 20 to 50 to 100 very quickly.

When he set his own record, Evans remembers feeling the nerves as he reached the 18th needing a par to eclipse the then standard set by future three-time major winner and Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington.

In contrast, as the pressure ramped up, O’Callaghan sensed McIlroy relished the attention.

The 36-year-old made headlines at Augusta this year for not addressing his final-round playing partner Bryson DeChambeau, but O’Callaghan saw the same singular focus even then.

“The more people that were there, you could see his focus go to the next level, he was now in his element,” he said.

“It wasn’t that he was showing off, but like he was going to entertain and really put on a show.

“He got into that zone or flow that people talk about and you could probably throw an orange at his head and he wouldn’t blink.”

If Evans felt McIlroy looked like a tour player that day, O’Callaghan remembers him celebrating one like too.

Five consecutive birdies to finish his round gave the watching crowd what they had hoped for with a monster putt on the 18th providing the exclamation point to the piece of history.

“It was one of those kind of moments that we were watching on TV at the time with Tiger Woods where as soon as the putt left the blade, you could just see this thing like a magnet to the hole, roll after roll after roll,” he said.

“Rory, you could see it in his eyes. He knows that he’s making it right off the bat, and he’s got the putter up and he’s ready to go with the fist pump, giving it the whole lot.

McIlroy was interviewed the next day by BBC NI and said it was the first bogey-free competitive round of his life. In 2019, he said he could still remember every shot.

From the 17th, Evans heard the cheer that signalled his record had been beaten with the navigation of the course ensuring there was to be an almost figurative as well as literal passing of the torch.

“He had to come walking down past me and I says ’61?’ and he just says ‘yeah, Randy’, like why wouldn’t he be shooting a 61 round there, you know?” said Evans.

“I shot 64 and that was years of practice and a good round of golf. Think of all the great golfers who have played Portrush and not beat that, tens of thousands of rounds a year.

Of course, McIlroy would later learn that the game of golf will dent even the previously unshakable confidence of the very best. For all his talent and successes, McIlroy connects with fans in part because of all he has endured alongside his historic feats.

From the Sunday 80 when leading the Masters by four in 2011, through to handing the US Open to DeChambeau last year, with stalled major charges at St Andrews and Los Angeles Country Club in between, there have been plenty of days that could have slowed that familiar stride up the fairways as if there were “springs in his shoes” that O’Callaghan saw even in his earliest days.

Such moments have allowed even one of the most preternaturally talented athletes of his generation to show a human side too.

Perhaps McIlroy was at his most raw after his late run to make the cut came up short when The Open returned to Royal Portrush in 2019. An eight on the opening hole of the championship set an unwanted tone and he was left fighting back tears after his second-round 65 was not enough to hang around for the weekend.

If he beat the course into submission in 2005, Portrush bit back in 2019.

What way will things go as McIlroy returns home this week in search of major number six?

“Rory, obviously, is a different league altogether now,” says Evans.