An England international footballer who is excelling at the Women's World Cup in Australia has delivered a special message to an Oxfordshire football team.
Lauren James led the Lionesses to a dominant 6-1 win over China in Adelaide Tuesday.
The 21-year-old Chelsea forward scored two goals and set up a further three, storming her team into the last-16.
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In resurfaced videos the rising star shows her support for Oxfordshire team Witney Vikings Youth Football Club.
In a video message shared on the Club’s Facebook page, Miss James says: “Hi everyone, Lauren James here. Good luck to Witney…
She pauses before the person behind the camera fills in “…Vikings".
With a laugh, she continues: “Vikings. Wait what ‘Vitney’?”
In a second video, she wishes the Witney Under-16 Women’s Wasps good luck in their cup final match.
Witney Vikings is entirely volunteer-run and the largest youth football club in the Witney area.
The videos, which were filmed in May, came about when Witney's Women’s Under-16 Wasps team were at an England Talent event which is held to identify emerging footballers.
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Nigel Lomas, who manages the Witney team, said: “The Lionesses were playing Australia a couple of days later at Brentford ground.
"They all rocked up and did a Q&A and meet and greet with all the girls off their own back."
The Lionesses have had an indelible impact on this local football club.
On whether there has been a noticeable increase in the number of girls playing football, club chairman Steve Bott said: “It’s been bonkers
“It’s given us a big headache because the club has tripled in size.
“Not only do we have a couple of hundred girls to find pitches and coaches for, but we seem to have attracted more boys because people see us as a proper family club."
In the space of six years, the club has gone from coaching just six girls to over 250.
Club chairman Steve Bott thinks Lauren James is a great role model.
He added: “It’s inspirational really.. I know it sounds clichéd."
Mr Bott tells girls “come and kick a football about and in 15-20 years you could be signing for a professional club”.
Several Witney players have already gone on to play for pro clubs including Manchester United, Arsenal and Oxford United.
Mr Bott said: “We treat the boys teams and girls teams equally.
“The girls are buzzing with it being the World Cup at the moment.
“Parents will want to get their girls into football as soon as possible and that’s a direct consequence of them seeing how successful our Lionesses are, so my phone will be off the hook for a couple of weeks."
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