The mum of Barrow's Lioness Georgia Stanway had to sell their home not once, but twice, to support her daughter's football career,

Joanne Stanway, who worked as a teacher, was allowed to leave work early twice a week to take Georgia to training with Blackburn Rovers.

However, the expenses involved in Georgia's football career, such as petrol and kit, put a strain on their finances, Joanne told the Behind the Boots podcast.

Joanne had to downsize their home twice to save money.

Georgia, now 24, is a prominent player for the England national team, who narrowly missed out on World Cup glory on Sunday, and currently plays for Bayern Munich.

Despite her success, Joanne revealed that there was not a substantial amount of financial support available for girls' football.

She only received a grant of £250 per year from the local council, which covered approximately 10 trips to training.

She also received around £500 from the county council.

Joanne told the podcast: “There wasn’t a lot of money in girls’ football. In my case, I got a grant of £250 a year from the local council which covered about 10 journeys to training, and then I got about £500 from the county council.

"But it was still hard and I had a good job. I found myself really stretched financially and I downsized twice for extra money.”

The demands of Georgia's football career left her constantly exhausted.

In fact, she would sometimes fall asleep during meetings at her school.

Once Georgia reached the legal driving age, she took matters into her own hands and sought sponsorship from local businesses.

Joanne said: “She wrote about 20 or 30 letters. Eventually, one paid for her lessons, then another gave a sponsored car.“

As a teenager, the Barrow-born footballer was told by a coach that she should consider her alternative career options, as only one player from the group would likely become a professional footballer.

During her journey home, she told her mum: "Don't worry mum, I'll be the one."

Her determination and hard work paid off eventually signing for Manchester City, Bayern Munich and as they say, the rest is history.