With women’s football in England going from strength to strength, Lauren Hemp could play a big role at the top of the sport for years to come.

Hemp fought off stiff competition to scoop the Vauxhall England Young Player of the Year award at Friday night’s FA Women’s Football Awards.

The Bristol City youngster has impressed for England under-17s, scoring five times in six appearances during this year’s European Championship campaign, before adding another at the finals in the Czech Republic.

Hemp has caught the eye in her two senior appearances for the Vixens, netting her solo first-team goal in a 3-1 loss to Reading in the Spring Series, in April.

An emotional Hemp was almost lost for words after collecting her award at the ceremony, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in central London on Friday night.

“It feels amazing - I’m speechless,” said the 17-year-old. “I can’t believe it. Just being here, in front of my role models, I’m just trying to take it all in.

“There are so many people who I look up to, and it shows all of my hard work is paying off.

“I’d like to thank everyone who voted, as well as my team mates – if it wasn’t for all of them then I would not be receiving this.

“I’ll put it somewhere safe in my room that I can look to all day!”

The FA Women’s Football Awards celebrated an exciting year for women’s football and recognised the achievements of clubs, players, staff and the excellent work done at the grassroots level of the game.

The awards also highlighted the success of The FA’s Gameplan for Growth, launched earlier in 2017, which aims to double participation and the fanbase of the women’s game by 2020 and create sustained success at elite international level.

Like much of the nation, Hemp was glued to her television screen in following the progress of England at the UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 championships earlier this summer.

And she is itching to further her career in order to be a part of the senior squad in the future.

“Watching the Lionesses at the World Cup [in 2015] and the Euros this summer, it just makes you want to be there,” she added. “I’m just taking each day as it comes and progress through the under-18s and under-19s.

“I want to keep working hard and hopefully get into the England under-19s team – keep improving and keep getting better.

“I’m really looking forward to the new season – it will be a new chapter, I’ve been at Bristol a year already, and I can’t wait for the season to start.

“Preparations have been going really well – hopefully we can get a good result against Chelsea and carry that on throughout the season.”

For more information and to see all the award winners visitwww.thefa.com/forgirls  Join the conversation online using the hashtag #FAWomensAwards.