The girl from Barry who grew up to be world class

Ward scored Wales' goal in Baku, with Ingle coming off the bench.

"It was a horrible game, horrible pitch, but this kid just made it look like she'd been doing it her whole life," Ward remembers.

"She's just a top player… technique is unbelievable, the way she reads a game, the way she can find a pass.

"She's my favourite footballer in the world."

Adrian Tucker was the manager who gave Ingle her first cap, in an era when the landscape was very different in women's football.

"She was good technically but she was also really good on the physical side, which was a really big thing at that time," he says.

"Did I think she would go on to win 150 caps? In 2009, I didn't think Wales would play 150 games. We were struggling to get five games a season.

"But since then there has been a boom in women's football and Sophie has been on the crest of that wave."

Sophie Ingle, during her first spell at Chelsea in 2012, takes on Everton's England midfielder Jill Scott [Getty Images]

Captaincy brought belief

Ingle was just 23 when, in 2015, then Wales boss Jayne Ludlow made the bold decision to give her the captain's armband ahead of Jess Fishlock.

She would lead Wales for nine years before opting to stand down shortly after Rhian Wilkinson took charge of the national side in 2024.

"As a youngster she was a silent assassin - quiet, calm, nothing bothered her and her football did the talking," says Morgan, who retired before Ingle joined Wales' senior squad but worked with her as a coach.

"Then when Jayne Ludlow made her captain, that brought something different to Sophie. It heightened her confidence and belief in her own ability."

Ward believes Ingle's early elevation to the leadership role says something about her character.

"Who gets the captaincy at 23 other than Sophie?" says Ward, scorer of 44 goals in 105 Wales appearances.

"She's never been a shouter or a screamer but she's a leader in her own way. A top person, top professional and one of the most down-to-earth people you'll ever meet."

'Right at the top' in list of Welsh greats

Ingle's first stint at Chelsea lasted only a year, as she moved on to Bristol Academy and then Liverpool.

In 2018, she made the key decision to return to Chelsea, whose status had changed after Roman Abramovich began investing in the Blues' women's team.

During seven years with the London heavyweights, Ingle won five Women's Super League (WSL) titles, three FA Cups and two League Cups and played in the 2021 Champions League final.

At one stage she held the record for WSL appearances, with her Chelsea success helping Ingle land a place in the Team GB squad at the 2020 Olympics, where she was the sole Welsh player.

With Wales, meanwhile, Ingle continued to rack up caps, though she would have even more but for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury which meant she did not play throughout the 2024-25 season.

Ingle battled through rehabilitation to make Wilkinson's Euro 2025 squad, though the knee issue meant she managed only one substitute appearance in Switzerland as Wales featured at a major women's tournament for the first time.

"The way she's come back from her ACL, I'm so proud of her," says Seattle Reign midfielder James, Ingle's successor as Wales skipper.

"She's the best team-mate you could have and she's led this group for such a long time. She's just a great person to have around, both on and off the field."

Wales said farewell to the player who is widely regarded as their finest female footballer when Fishlock retired from international duty last October.

James, though, says Ingle should be "right at the top" of any list of Welsh greats.

"I think if you're going to write the first person on your team sheet, Sophie's on there for me," she says.

Sophie Ingle came on as a substitute for Jess Fishlock during Wales' Euro 2025 defeat to France [FAW]

Versatility is one of Ingle's various assets. She is best known as a midfielder but is equally at home in central defence, while there were also stints operating on the flanks in her younger days.

Given Ingle's humility, it is hard to imagine Ingle complaining wherever she is asked to play.

In the wake of Euro 2025, some wondered whether she might join Fishlock and fellow veteran Kayleigh Barton by calling time on her Wales career.

But having signed for Bristol City on a two-year deal after leaving Chelsea last summer, she is still around and still showing her class at international level.

"She's fantastic… I mean, what a player," says Wales head coach Wilkinson.

"Sophie would have retired if she didn't think she was going to keep getting better. She's that type of person – she wants to push herself.

"Credit to her, she's left one of the top clubs in the world and gone to a good team, but obviously one who play in a league down.

"She just wants the minutes, she wants to be sharp and you [continue to see] probably one of the best ever to play for Wales dominating at whatever age she is."

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A double-century in sight?

Sophie Ingle has scored three goals in Wales' past five games, taking her overall to tally to nine in 149 caps [FAW]

Ingle will turn 35 in September. Inevitably, therefore, questions will be asked about how much longer she can play for Wales.

Morgan says it will be a personal decision which will depend on Ingle's "life commitments outside of football", but reckons she could continue playing at the back for her country for another five years.

As Ingle prepares to become only the second Welsh footballer to pass the 150-mark, Ward believes she will have Fishlock's Wales record of 166 caps in her sights.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she pushes on maybe to 200," Ward says.

"She's the sort of player that - and I don't mean any disrespect by this - doesn't rely on pace, so she hasn't got that to lose from her game.

"She'll always be able to read the game and she'll always be able to pass the ball, so as long as she wants to do it, I think she'll be able to do it."

But how does the woman herself view things?

Ingle is playing regularly at club level and remains a key figure for Wales, for whom the trip to Albania is the next step on the long qualification path they hope will lead to a first Women's World Cup.

"I feel good, I feel fresh. I just try and get on the ball as much as I can and play the effective passes," Ingle said after Tuesday's comfortable home victory over the Albanians.

"If Wales qualified for the World Cup, it would be amazing."