Arsenal and England star Alessia Russo is backing her old grassroots club’s ambitious plans for the future.

Russo, 25, returned to Bearsted FC in Maidstone yesterday as they launched a drive to grow girls’ football and transform facilities at their Honey Lane home ground.

Chairman Jamie Houston spoke about his vision to increase the number of girls’ teams, while over the next five years they want to install a 3G pitch and build a new clubhouse to cater for them.

Russo, just back from international duty, listened to the club’s plans before heading outside to take questions from youngsters and watch them train.

The striker - later presented with the Freedom of Maidstone in a Town Hall ceremony - was reunited with a host of familiar faces, including Colin Whitfield, her old under-10s coach.

“It’s always nice to come back and see all the girls and the people that were here when I was here as well,” said Russo, speaking to KentOnline.

“They had a massive impact on my journey and my career as a player.

“I used to have loads of fond memories down here, playing week in, week out with the boys and with the girls and the tournaments in the summer.

“It’s always nice to see the future stars coming through.

“To come back and even just see everyone and pay a little bit of thanks to them for everything they did for me, it’s always important to me to do that.”

Russo is confident Bearsted’s plans will come to fruition.

“I think it’s a club filled with great players and great people,” she added.

“So for them to keep pushing the club and the facilities and trying to take it to the next level is really important to everyone because they have high ambitions and high aspirations for everyone here.”

Russo had a brief spell at West Farleigh before joining Bearsted, where she would play for the boys’ and girls’ teams.

Her talent and work ethic at a young age were clear and she played for Charlton, Chelsea and Brighton before moving to study and play in America at the University of North Carolina.

Her return to England took her to childhood club Manchester United in 2020 as her reputation continued to grow.

It was the Lionesses’ European Championship success in 2022 that catapulted her career to another level.

She scored four goals during the tournament, including an iconic backheel in a 4-0 semi-final win over Sweden, as England lifted the trophy at Wembley.

“The Euros was a bit of a watershed moment,” said Russo.

“Everything kind of changed but we’d been wanting that for women’s football for a long time.

“We’d been wanting those kinds of stages and for us to win at home at Wembley made it even more special.

“Life is definitely different but you wouldn’t change it because it’s what we’ve been wanting for young girls, so they can grow up and see and dream that they can do it too because they definitely can.

“There’s definitely a massive place for women’s football here.”

Russo is one of the biggest names in the women’s game but remains grounded and handles fame well.

The demands can be intense but she said: “I think you’ve just got to surround yourself with the right people and make sure you kind of leave the media and everything aside.

“That side is always quite loud and you’ve almost got to try and ignore it all and focus on you and ultimately the most important thing is football and playing well and trying to get better every day.”

The Lionesses followed their Euro triumph by reaching the World Cup final last summer.

Their success continues to help grow the women’s game and open doors for young players.

“It’s definitely getting better,” said Russo.

“What we wanted as players was to keep pushing and make sure we leave no stone unturned and we can make sure every girl has a route into football.

“There’s so many programmes in place now to try and help that and us as players want to do that.”

Russo left Manchester United at the end of her contract last summer to join Arsenal.

The Gunners are third in the Women’s Super League, three points behind leaders Chelsea, with eight games to go.

They set a WSL record crowd of 60,160 in a 3-1 win over United earlier this month and Russo has another huge game at the Emirates to come on Sunday against north London rivals Tottenham.

Leaving United, the club she’s supported all her life, was a big decision but returning south has worked out well.

The forward has scored seven goals in 19 games so far to help the Gunners’ push for honours.

She said: “Football changes very quickly and I feel settled at Arsenal now and we’ve got a massive end to the season.

“It’s been great and it’s a new challenge and I’m back nearer home as well, which is nice too. I live nearer the club and I come down here as much as I can to see family and stuff.”

Russo also had a message for her hometown club after Maidstone United’s thrilling FA Cup adventure ended on Monday night.

She tuned in as the non-league giantkillers lost 5-0 at Coventry after a history-making run to the last 16.

“They were on a real FA Cup journey,” she said.

“I was following along and it was great to see them.

“Football’s tough sometimes but everyone should be so proud.

“They’ve done everyone in Maidstone proud and hopefully they’ll finish strong in the league as well.”

Bearsted chairman Houston thanked Russo for returning to Honey Lane as he unveiled the club’s plans for growth.

He spoke passionately about his desire to improve facilities to allow for more girls’ participation.

“At the moment we’ve got 32 teams at this club and we only have one girls’ team and a handful of girls that play with boys, mixed in with boys, a bit like Alessia used to,” said Houston.

“We need to grow this club, we need to expand, and what this lady has done has now given every girl some belief, some hope, that they can make it.

“It’s really opened up a window of opportunity so as a club we want to grow.

“I want these girls to come along, I want to involve the community more and I want to be able to say Bearsted Football Club hasn’t just one girls’ team, it’s got 10, 12, 15, and that’s really where our main focus and drive is at the moment.

“For us to do that and achieve that, we haven’t got the facilities.

“I want to change that. I want to change the pitch out there.

“As much as it’s one of the best pitches you’ll see at our level of football, I want to be able to utilise that pitch 24/7 for these kids and then grow and expand this club.

“I want the facilities so girls can feel safe.”