Teenager Lucy Hepburn has been playing football for half of her life and has become pretty good at it.

So good, in fact, she was chosen to play number nine for England under-15 football in Switzerland.

Lucy, 14, is well-aware of how amazing that opportunity is.

“When I found out, I had mixed emotions,” she said.

“I was mainly excited, but also quite overwhelmed – it’s a massive achievement.

“It was quite unexpected because I’m just from a small club in a small village. I also don’t like to be away from home too much, so it made me nervous.

“I decided that I’d just have to go for it.”

This isn’t her only huge achievement with football.

“I’m currently in my third season playing for Oxford United FC,” she said.

“I’ve been offered a two-year contract with them.”

Unfortunately, this talented player couldn’t go to Switzerland because her physio decided it would be problematic – this was hugely disappointing.

It hasn’t deterred Lucy, though, whose passion and ambition remain as strong as ever.

“In April, there’s going to be a training camp at St George’s Park in Burton-on-Trent and then in May there’s an international fixture camp in Belgium,” she said.

“I hope to be selected to be a part of both of these.”

Lucy has certainly come a long way since she started playing.

“I’ve been playing football since I was seven, when I started playing for the club at my old school, Sherborne CE Primary School,” she said.

“It was a small club because they were only just starting to get girls into football. I thought I’d give it a go and really enjoyed it.

“I wanted to get involved when I moved up to The Cotswold School, but I was late to the year seven trials.

“I ended up being taken across the field in a buggy sort of thing by our headmaster, Mr Morgan.

“When I got there, Miss Salleh, a past PE tech teacher, just told me that I was in, so I started playing for the school.”

So, why does Lucy love football so much?

“School is hard at the moment – I’m in year 10 and I’ve just started my GCSE’S,” said Lucy.

“It’s nice to have a chance to get away from it all, which I can do when I play football.

“I love that it gives me a bit of freedom. I’ve also met so many good people with the same interests and abilities as me.”

Lucy also has some great advice for anyone who’s just starting football.

“Stay at it,” she said.

“Just keep enjoying it and working hard. Hard work always pays off.”

Those are wise words indeed.