The government has ruled out an extra bank holiday if the Lionesses win the Women's World Cup this Sunday. After the Lionesses beat Australia 3-1 in the semi-final yesterday, they became the first English women's football side to reach a World Cup final. They will face Spain this weekend and if they win, they will become the first England team to win a World Cup since 1966. But there are "no plans" for an extra day off if the Lionesses secure a famous victory, the government said. Asked if there could be a change of heart this time around, a government spokesperson told the BBC: "We congratulate the Lionesses on their fantastic achievement in getting to the Women's World Cup final. "The current pattern of public and bank holidays is well established and there are no plans to change this." In a later statement, a government spokesperson added: "Winning the World Cup would be a massive moment for the country and make no mistake we'll find the right way to celebrate. "As Sarina Wiegman herself has said, the first thing to do is focus on the final and the whole country will be rooting for the Lionesses this weekend". There has never been an extra bank holiday held in the UK to mark a sporting occasion despite multiple appeals, including calls for an extra day off in the run-up to the Lionesses' Euros win in 2022, and a petition calling for a bank holiday in the event the men's team won Euro 2020. This is because of money. It is not exactly clear how much it would cost but a 2010 a House of Commons library report said an extra holiday would cost £2.9bn, and both the Bank of England and Office of Budget Responsibility say it negatively impacts growth. Nevertheless, other countries sometimes declare bank holidays for sporting wins. Argentina got a day off last year after winning the men's World Cup. Panama declared a national holiday in 2017 for qualifying for the World Cup for the first time and Saudi Arabia held one for beating Argentina in last year's group stages. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had called for a bank holiday there if his team won the cup. Meanwhile, there is some support for an extra holiday in the UK. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer backed calls for an extra bank holiday after the Lionesses won the semi-final. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also backed the call, describing the England team an "inspiration" and saying a final win would "absolutely" deserve to be marked with a bank holiday. Regardless of the extra bank holiday or not, if the Lionesses win it will be a cracker of a day. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Lioness Ella Toone’s former PE teacher said it is “not a surprise” that the midfielder reached her first World Cup final after England beat Australia 3-1 on Wednesday. Chris Nuttall, PE teacher at Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, Wigan, who taught Toone from Year 9 to Year 11, said he saw the midfielder’s potential at school and “could tell” she would achieve great success in football. The sports teacher said it was a “surreal” experience watching Toone score the opening goal on Wednesday, but felt her success was expected after demonstrating a strong sporting ability at school. Mr Nuttal, 38, told the PA news agency: “It’s surreal to see Ella play in the World Cup semi-final, but it’s brilliant now (England) have got through to the final. “For myself and the rest of the department, it’s not a surprise for us because the way Ella conducted herself and how passionate she was about football throughout school, you could see how determined she was. “You could tell she was going to go onto great things in terms of her football career.” Mr Nuttall also describes the midfielder, 23, as a “role model” which began at her old high school after she encouraged more girls to pick up sports. He explained: “She was the type of student that was a dream for a PE teacher because she was involved in anything, any sport. “She was a role model in whichever sport that she did. “She was a big starting point and now we run a number of girls’ teams and we have a lot of girls join football teams, and that all started from Ella.” The PE teacher expressed his pride in seeing his former student make herself one of the heroes of the day with a brilliant first-half strike, making Lionesses fans believe they could make their first World Cup final. He said: “You always hope as a PE teacher that one of your students will continue that passion when they leave school. “For somebody to go onto the level that she has, breaking records… it’s unbelievable.” Mr Nuttall hopes that the Lioness will score again in England’s final against Spain on Sunday and expects the team to achieve the same result as the semi-final. He said: “Hopefully, she’ll play some part in that and carry on her goalscoring because she seems to pick up the goals at the most important times. “Hopefully she’ll score another goal (in the final).” You could tell she was going to go onto great things in terms of her football career Chris Nuttall, Ella Toone's former PE teacher Toone’s former teacher is confident the Lionesses, who won the Uefa Women’s Euro in 2022, will take home the World Cup trophy. Mr Nuttall said: “To get through the the World Cup finals is amazing for the country, especially after the Lionesses winning the Euros. “I think they’ll be ready for (the final). Having that experience at the Euros, they know how to prepare now for these types of matches.” He has wished his former student and the rest of the Lionesses “all the luck” ahead of the final. He said: “Good luck to Ella. We’re all really proud as a PE department so we wish her all the luck. “Good luck to the Lionesses – they’ve done the country proud.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Erling Haaland one of three Man City treble winners on shortlist for PFA award Football rumours: Liverpool ramp up bid for Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola sets sights on Club World Cup

Erling Haaland is one of three members of Manchester City’s treble-winning team to be nominated for the Professional Footballers’ Association Players’ Player of the Year award. The 23-year-old Norway striker was a sensation in his debut season in English football, scoring 52 goals in all competitions as Pep Guardiola’s side won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. Haaland is joined on the six-man shortlist by Belgium playmaker Kevin De Bruyne and England international John Stones. The Barnsley-born player, 29, was a revelation as Guardiola pushed him up from defence into midfield last season. Arsenal were City’s closest challengers in the Premier League last term and two of their star performers, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, are also on the list. England winger Saka enjoyed his finest season to date, scoring 14 goals for the Gunners and contributing 11 assists. Norway international Odegaard led by example as Arsenal captain and hit 15 goals and added seven assists. The only player on the list from outside the Premier League’s top two in 2022-23 was Harry Kane. The England captain, who has since completed a summer move to German champions Bayern Munich, hit 30 top-flight goals last season for Tottenham, second only to Haaland’s tally of 36.

Newcastle are hoping to sign Chelsea youngster Lewis Hall.

Politicians try their hardest to look like normal people but they really struggle. This is especially true when they watch football - we all remember when Boris Johnson put kit on over his shirt and tie during the Euros, right? If you do remember that, than you'd have predicted a lot of embarrassing photo opps from politicians watching the Lionesses storm to success during the Women's World Cup this year. Beating a number of opponents, the team are to face Spain in the final on Sunday and politicians couldn't help but scrape into the action. Here are some politicians who made watching the World Cup this year seem very cringe. Why did this MP print out a piece of paper that said "Lionesses" on it to celebrate the match: Anneliese Dodds used England's 6-1 win over China in the group stage to promote Labour's Alistair Strathern and his campaign in Mid Bedfordshire. Wakeford especially gets cringe points for calling the adult team "girls". And awkwardly waving a couple of flags is pretty cringe, too: Who could forget this already classic Ed Davey photo... Poor MPs. They are just trying to have a good time but there's nothing they can do that they won't get rinsed for. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

What the papers say Liverpool are ramping up their bid for 23-year-old midfielder Cheick Doucoure after missing out of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia to Chelsea this summer, the Independent reports. The price to lure the Crystal Palace star to Anfield is reported to be around £60million, but the Eagles could be hesitant to sell Doucoure after already losing a number of players this summer. The Daily Mail says Liverpool are also interested in Netherlands international midfielder Ryan Gravenberch. The 21-year-old at Bayern Munich is reportedly open to leaving the club due to a lack of playing time. Newcastle United are set to pay £30million for 18-year-old full-back Lewis Hall after Chelsea put him up for sale, according to the Telegraph. West Ham are hoping to use some of the money gained from the monster Declan Rice sale to sign a flurry of players. The Guardian says Montpellier striker Elye Wahi, Stuttgart defender Konstantinos Mavropanos and Bayer Leverkusen defender Odilon Kossounou are all on the club’s watchlist. Social media round-up Players to watch Jesse Lingard: West Ham are scoping out the 30-year-old midfielder who is now a free agent after his contract expired with Nottingham Forest, Football Daily said. Aleksandar Mitrovic: The Guardian says the Fulham and Serbian striker is looking like the next Premier League player to head to the Saudi Pro League. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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