England’s Jess proves a Hometown Hero to young footballers

England international Jess Park has returned to her roots to celebrate being named a Hometown Hero – with a little help from her fans.

The England and Manchester United midfielder met youngsters from Elloughton Blackburn Under 12s’ girls team this week to unveil a classic cream phone box named in her honour, as part of KCOM’s Hometown Heroes campaign.

Jess’s phone box, which is located in Dale Road, Welton, close to where she grew up, is one of nine kiosks being dedicated to inspirational local figures this year to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the classic K6 phone box design.

Jess,  who was part of England's Euro 2025-winning squad, said: “This is really special. Being here and being back where I came from, where I started my journey and looking at these girls - they could really be stepping into my shoes in the future - and to be able to inspire girls from my club is an incredibly proud moment.

“And how many people have a phone box dedicated to them. It’s a real honour.”

Jess’s dad Ian, said: “It’s surreal to be honest, but it’s a really proud moment. Jess is just Jess to us, she’s still the same person she always was. . She hasn’t changed at all. She comes in  dumps her bags down and jumps on the sofa!

“It’s great to have all the girls here today to see this. It’s amazing to see how far girls’ football had come. When Jess started there weren’t any girls’ teams, so she played for the boys team, now to see there are all these girls who’re looking to Jess to see what’s possible is amazing.”

Elloughton Blackburn club President Conleth Campbell, who was also Jess’s first football  coach,  said: “It was obvious from day one that she had the talent. She was head and shoulders the best player in the league - and that’s both the girls and the boys’ teams. I remember saying to her parents when she was about ten that ‘I guarantee one day she will play for England’  - I just wish I’d had the foresight to put some money on it!”

“This is a great thing though, it’s a real inspiration to both young girls and boys in our teams.”

Jess is the latest Hometown Hero to have a K6 named in her honour. Previous recipients include BAFTA-winning actor Robert Aramayo and Hull NHS nursing legend “Mama” Cath Lyon.

Ian Shepherdson, KCOM Chief Technology Officer, said: “It’s a huge honour to have Jess as one of our Hometown Heroes. She’s a really deserving winner and you can just see from the girls’ faces that she’s a huge inspiration. Let’s hope there are a few more aspiring England internationals here today who will go on to great things too.”

You can watch the film of Jess meeting her fans here

To find out more about KCOM’s Hometown heroes visit www.kcom.com/home/hometown-heroes/