Marton FC has already helped to produce one former Newcastle United and England star; now Elysia Boddy is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Jonathan Woodgate as she enters her second campaign with the Magpies.
Just like Woodgate - widely regarded as one of the club's best ever defenders - midfielder Boddy turned out for the Middlesbrough-based junior team at the beginning of her career and, having already marked her England Under-19s debut with a goal against Finland before stepping into the Lionesses' Under-23s team, she has her sights set on winning full honours with her country.
But the talented Teessider's first focus is on helping Becky Langley's team to build on last season's success after the team won promotion from the FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division into the Women's Championship.
Boddy started playing boys' football with Marton at the age of four before moving into the girls' game with Teesside Girls RTC (Regional Talent Club) a few years later. From there, she joined Middlesbrough Women as a 16-year-old, then earned a move to Lydia Bedford's Leicester Women, where she made her Women's Super League (WSL) bow as a substitute in a 3-0 win against West Ham Women in February 2022, just a few weeks after her 18th birthday.
After six months at Leicester, she joined Bristol City Women last summer and helped them to win promotion from the Women's Championship, then linked up with the Magpies in the summer of 2023 - helping the team win promotion in her first campaign.
Her performances for the Magpies were rewarded in September 2024 with a new three-year contract, before she won her first England Under-23 cap against Norway in November that year.