England’s Toone, Mead share special bond after managing grief

ST. GALLEN, Switzerland — Beth Mead and Ella Toone have spoken about how the two have bonded over the grief of losing parents in recent years.

Toone and Mead have both been integral to England’s progression to the knockout stages at Euro 2025, and were stars as England won the Euros in 2022. But since that famous day three years ago, both have lost parents.

Mead lost her mum, June, to ovarian cancer in January 2023. Toone’s dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer soon after England’s Euro 2022 win and died in September 2024. Toone said after the 6-1 win over Wales on Sunday she was sure her dad and Mead’s mum “will be up there with a few pints in their hands watching us.”

Both players celebrated by pointing to the sky after they scored in England’s commanding victory over Wales on Sunday in St. Gallen. The triumph sees England progress to the quarterfinals where they will meet Sweden.

But post-match, the two spoke about how they have bonded through managing grief.

“She has been amazing,” Toone said of Mead. “We have really bonded over such a terrible thing but it’s nice to have someone who has been through it as well and who understands and knows exactly what is going on and what is going on in my head.

“We definitely have each other’s backs. We are proud of each other and it’s nice we are constantly talking about them. It’s nice to have someone in the same situation and we know we are doing them proud.”

Both found the opening match tough as they looked to the stands and remembered those who are no longer there.

“We both said the first game we really struggled,” Mead said. “You look to the stands for your person who was standing there and they are not there anymore. My mum was the first person I would look for in the stands, so I understand what Ella felt in that moment.

“It’s special to be able to have that moment to think about them and dedicate it to them.”

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Mead said she’s been so impressed with how Toone has played, but also spoke about how the two have talked about about grief.

“I’ve been a shoulder to be there for her,” Mead said of Toone. “There have been moments where she has asked, ‘is this normal? Does that feel normal? Why am I thinking this?’ I’m like, ‘it’s completely normal, I’ve been there and I still feel it now.’

“We have conversations about it and talk so easy about it but ultimately I’ve had a bit longer to process it compared to her. We all deal with it differently but she is dealing with it pretty amazingly now.”

Mead scored after coming off the bench against Wales, while Toone has two goals at the Euros heading into the knockout stages. Toone was on the bench for England’s opener against France, but played her way into the side for the Netherlands match and kept her spot for the game with Wales.

She scored against the Dutch, and against Wales while also contributing two assists across both matches.

Her form has impressed Mead.

“I think Tooney is really coming into her own and sometimes in, you know, situations where you feel a little bit low, it brings you to the top of your game and I have completely felt that and done that before, been in a tough place and come back and I think you can see that she’s given that kind of aura, that type of energy and she deserves everything she’s getting right now because she has worked really hard for it,” Mead said.

Keira Walsh added: “I think massive credit to Ella Toone. She’s come in and done an incredible job. People speak about her offensively, but the defensive work she does for me and Georgia when she’s in there is incredible. She covers a lot of spaces that we can’t.

“That’s probably been the main thing that’s stopped other teams from playing as well. Obviously with [Lauren James] on the wing, we’ve managed to get both of them on the pitch at the same time and they are two world-class players.”