After recovering from a brutal ACL injury last season, the 17-year-old Lionesses prospect is now pushing to make her mark in the Women's Super League
England’s position in women’s football has changed dramatically in the past decade. It was 10 years ago that the Lionesses reached a first World Cup semi-final, kickstarting a run of five successive major tournaments in which they would reach the last four. That streak saw them steadily develop into genuine contenders for the top titles, to the point that they broke through the glass ceiling in 2022 by winning the European Championship on home soil.
But it’s not just the senior team, which also reached the World Cup final a year after that triumph, that has become a regular in the latter stages of tournaments, as the Lionesses’ success has also coincided with some great results for the youth teams. After 2023 saw the Under-17s reach the semi-finals of their Euros, 2024 was a huge year for the Young Lionesses, with the U17s reaching a Euros final and a World Cup semi-final while the U19s also reached the final four of their Euros.
As the senior England team prepares to defend its European title in Switzerland this summer, this flurry of positive results in the youth set-up has understandably got fans excited about the future of the side as well as the present. They are right to be, because these U17 and U19 sides contain some wonderfully promising talents – and Zara Shaw, a stalwart at centre-back at last year’s U17 World Cup run, is prime among them.
Getty ImagesWhere it all began
Shaw is a product of the Liverpool academy and was long rated by former head coach Matt Beard, who left his post on Thursday after four years in charge, so much so that he previously said he would have played her in the first-team at 15 years old if he was able to. However, just as she started to come into the senior picture, the teenager's rise through the Reds' ranks was obstructed massively by an ACL injury.
It came in the summer of 2023, only three months after Shaw had helped England reach the semi-finals of the U17 Euros and just as she looked set to continue that momentum into a first campaign with Liverpool's senior side.
“She’s really impressed us during pre-season so far, not only with the maturity in her play for someone of her years but with the way she is around the place too," Beard said at the time. “It’s a blow for us not to have her complement the group as we continue to prepare for the WSL season, but the most important thing now is us all rallying around her for the journey ahead."
Shaw was able to complete her comeback in the 2023-24 season and get on the pitch for Liverpool's final game of the campaign, that her senior debut. "Immensely proud of her," Beard said. "She has been a machine."
AdvertisementGetty ImagesThe big break
With that setback put behind her, Shaw was able to catch the eye plenty towards the end of 2024 as she helped England reach another semi-final, this time at the U17 World Cup which ran through October and November. Though used as a midfielder by Beard at Liverpool, it's as a centre-back that she thrives for the Young Lionesses, highlighting her versatility.
Shaw scored twice at the tournament, most notably in the quarter-final win over Japan. With England 2-1 down inside the final 20 minutes, the teenager lost her marker and managed to squeeze a header through a crowded box to level the scores and send the game to penalties. There, she grabbed the headlines again, netting the winning spot-kick to put her team into the last four.
The tournament wouldn't end in glory for Shaw and her team, with defeat to Spain in the semi-finals followed up by a loss against the United States in the third-placed play-off. Yet, it saw England continue their great recent run of returns in youth tournaments and served as a reminder of how bright the future is for the nation, with Shaw right there among its most promising young talents.
Getty ImagesHow it's going
Understandably, given that World Cup took place in the middle of the season, Shaw hasn't yet played a great deal in the WSL this term. But when she has, she has impressed. The 17-year-old has emerged as a stalwart in the Reds' squad, started two huge league outings against Arsenal and Manchester United and has taken her chances when they have come, scoring her first senior goal in the League Cup victory over Newcastle.
"Her development is coming on leaps and bounds and she's got an exciting future ahead of her. She's a great squad member," Beard said earlier this month. "I think last year was a massive blow for everyone, [for her] to be out for the whole season, because that would have been a real learning curve in the sense of understanding the Women's Super League level. I've worked with many a player that's come in, tactically, physically, mentally, that has to adjust to the training level, the game level, but I think she's been fantastic."
Getty ImagesBiggest strengths
Shaw has a lot of different qualities in her game, which explains why she's able to play both centre-back and central midfield to such a high-level. Despite her young age, she is physically strong, with her hard work in the gym during her ACL recovery certainly paying dividends. That is part of an athletic profile which helps her suit both roles well, as do a lot of other traits.
Her quality on the ball is one of those, with Shaw able to use both feet brilliantly. Her vision and passing range also ticks boxes in defence and midfield, with Beard noting the benefit of her "seeing different pictures from deeper" while playing further back for England, even if he was of the belief that her long-term future would come as a holding or box-to-box midfielder.
Then there are the mental aspects. Beard lauded Shaw for her attitude in her recovery, which says a lot about the teenager's character and ability to deal with adversity, while her application on the field is also admirable for a young player. She has great awareness, focus and sticks to her task well, which are all things that mean she can be an asset out-of-possession and in games when her team has less of the ball.