A 15-YEAR-OLD from Millom is setting herself up for a promising football career after scoring four goals for England in an under-16s match against Ireland. 

Martha Allington is in Manchester United's academy after moving from Blackburn Rovers. Her goals came in a 6-0 win against the Republic of Ireland in a friendly on October 20. 

It is her second season in the under-16s squad having played in the team from when she was 14. She has also started for the under-17s international squad. 

Last season she scored 98 goals and she was the leading goalscorer for both the England under-14 and under-16 squads.

The Millom School student won Manchester United's Emma Fletcher Women's Academy Player of the Year Award in May. 

Proud dad Steve Allington said: "She first started playing local Barrow and District football for Millom, she was playing for Dalton girls. Two clubs she started with - interestingly where Georgia Stanway started. 

READ MORE: From Barrow to Bayern: Georgia Stanway opens up on footballing story

"She was asked to trial at Blackburn Rovers when she was nine. She’s a striker so she has always been prolific at scoring goals. We decided to take a bit of a risk and trialled at Manchester United. She signed a contract for Manchester United’s under-13s. Last year she stared for under-14s, that was when she was secured for England under-15s.”

Martha has to travel further than many of the other members of the squad. She could potentially move to Manchester and live with a host family soon but Martha remains focused on the present.

Steve said: “She has her feet on the ground. She is quite grounded. She takes every game as it comes. She doesn’t particularly get nervous before any of the games.”

Martha also still finds time for her schoolwork, getting it done when she is not travelling four times a week to training.

“We’re all very proud of her," Steve said. "It’s a bit of a surreal feeling when she is playing for England. It’s not very often you see players from where we are achieve that level of recognition.”

He said he did not even realise how good his daughter was until she started playing against girls from other parts of the country.

Stanway, from Askam, is now one of the most famous England women’s players having been in the squad that won the Euros and got to the final of the World Cup.