Ella Palis

She comes from a very sporty family: her mother played handball, her father played ten years in the youth teams before moving into Formula 3 motorsport, and her brother built an international career in ice hockey.

As a child she joined AS Verson at six years old and played with boys, hearing comments like “it’s a girl, it’ll be easy” before delighting in winning duels and proving opponents wrong.

She has Guadeloupean and Martinican roots on her mother’s side.

She has said she often gives away football boots and other gear to younger players, remembering that when she was younger she didn’t always have the boots she wanted.

As a kid she briefly tried modern dance before realising it wasn’t for her