Beth Mead holds BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award
Beth Mead succeeds Arsenal team-mate Vivianne Miedema as BBC Women's Footballer of the Year

Beth Mead went from not being selected for the Olympics to England's most famous person in a year.

Her year has seen her break records and light up Euro 2022, and she can now add a new accolade to her collection.

In the year since she won the award, she had a difficult year off the pitch for her family and had a photo caption from the Ballon d'Or award go viral.

'A crazy but amazing month'

Beth Mead holds the match ball after scoring a hat-trick against Norway
Beth Mead scored a hat-trick in England's record-breaking 8-0 win over Norway at Euro 2022

After not being selected to represent Team Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics a year earlier, she bounced back by becoming the Golden Boot winner and player of the tournament as England won their first trophy at a major women's tournament. In the final at Wembley, the Lionesses beat Germany.

It was an interesting day. It was hard for us all to get food that morning and at lunchtime because of the nerves the girls had.

It was a nervous day because it was the final of the European Championships at Wembley.

When we got into the stadium, it was our safe place. People saw how much we enjoyed being out there representing our country and playing in front of people.

It was a wonderful day. Most of us didn't know what to do after the game. We'd worked so hard and been away from family for nine weeks, so there was a sense of relief that we'd accomplished it.

I don't think we knew what to do, we were all running left, right and center.

England players celebrate after the final whistle at Wembley
A record crowd of 87,192 watched England's win over Germany at Wembley

"I don't think we understood what we did at the time, but when we reflect, it's sunk in a little bit more but still to this day, there are a lot of us who still feel like it's a dream."

We were just taking the moment in. I don't think there's a way to tell you how to react or how to be when it happens, but we were just trying to absorb as much of it as we could.

It's a feeling that we'll hold onto for a long time, after so much disappointment over the last few years.

It was an amazing month, the whole process, the tournament, the noise from the fans, how many people were there.

"We had the belief, we knew we had the ability to win it, but saying it out loud was something that we were never going to do, because you shouldn't say it until you do it."

'My mum is my biggest motivation'

Beth Mead celebrates with family after winning Euro 2022

The family of the England forward had to take a year off after her mother was diagnosed with cancer.

My biggest motivation and biggest moment of the year so far is just my mother, who has been battling one of the hardest diseases that is known to anyone.

It's been a difficult year for my family and for my mother, so she has been incredible.

It was great to get the trophy and celebrate in front of the fans, but for me it was even better to get around the stadium and see my family.

Thanks to my family, I'm where I am today, even though this summer was amazing.

Sunderland Ladies Beth Mead runs towards family members to celebrate after scoring the winning goal in injury time during the WSL 1 match between Sunderland Ladies and Notts County
Beth Mead celebrating scoring for Sunderland with her family, who have been a big part of her footballing journey

I was lucky that my family supported me in my decisions when I came out of my comfort zone.

It was worthwhile for my younger self to look at where he is now and what he is doing.

'I saw funny side of Ballon d'Or slip-up'

The winner of the Women's Ballon d'Or is the best female footballer of the year. After attending the Ballon d'Or ceremony with her boyfriend, it was a photo of them on the red carpet that caused a huge social media reaction.

Luckily for them, I found the funny side of it, because I was their guest.

The women's game needs to move to the next level. Someone who is coming second in the Ballon d'Or is going to get called a guest.

There were no hard feelings to whoever put it out there.