The 24-year-old netball player broke into the fringes of Manchester Thunder during the 2021 season and while her dad, Manchester United legend Paul Scholes, urged her to stick with the side, she has no regrets about signing semi-professional terms with London Pulse.

Alicia told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “I grew up with Dad playing for the same team for so many years.

“And I wanted to be at Thunder all my career.

"But it was becoming ever more clear, I had to move to get game time. ‘Stay with them, it will come’, that was his advice.

"But I had to do what’s best for me, I had to get court time, so I signed for Pulse.”

Alicia can understand why her skills on the court have been confirmed to her dad's in his prime.

She said: “Maybe it’s inherited, I don’t know.

“People do say after they’ve seen me play that it’s like watching Dad on a netball court.”

The sportswoman has set out to prove people wrong because she was often warned her 5ft 4in stature was too short to be successful.

She admitted: “Loads of people have told me I’m too small to play. Always have.

"From around the time I started in high school, my height was something that was there constantly in the background.

"If I’m honest, it was always in my head that I’d be too small, that because of that I’d never make an international.

"I’ve always wanted to prove to people it didn’t matter, because I’m faster, quicker round the court. What I’ve tried to do all my career is use it to prove people wrong.”