ENGLAND forward Shaunagh Brown believes increasing the amount of sport played in state schools holds the key to addressing the lack of diversity evident in elite level women’s teams.

Brown was present at Wembley last month to see the Lionesses’ victory over Germany in the final of Euro 2022 and was struck by the absence of any players from ethnic minority backgrounds in the starting line-up.

Former England defender Anita Asante reacted to the “whiteness” of the side by stating that “visibility matters” and Brown acknowledges that it is also a characteristic shared by the Red Roses.