“I am sorry for what happened. For our England fans and my teammates, playing with and for you is my greatest honour and I promise to learn from my experience.”
Those were the words of Lauren James in the aftermath of her stamp to the back of a stricken Michelle Alozie during last summer’s Women’s World Cup. The moment of petulance and subsequent red card had echoes of David Beckham in 1998 and Wayne Rooney in 2006 but, thankfully, the world has moved on enough that James didn’t get the same pitchfork treatment that Beckham and Rooney faced.
