One of England’s original Lionesses has spoken of her excitement regarding the caps she and team-mates are set to finally receive this week after being “ignored” in the past.

The first official England Women fixture saw the team beat Scotland 3-2 in a friendly in Greenock on November 18, 1972.

Caps are set to be distributed to members of that side during a presentation at Friday’s sold-out friendly against the United States at Wembley when the team’s 50th anniversary is marked.

Pat Davies, among a group of former players who on Tuesday met Sarina Wiegman’s England after watching them train, told Sky Sports: “We’ve been fighting for 50 years to get our caps.

“It’s happening at last, it’s fantastic and I’m so excited. (The fight has been) quite hard. We were ignored for a long time, but we got there in the end.”

The Football Association said it was committed to awarding former players with bespoke caps during England’s triumphant Euros campaign in July as it worked on plans for the 50th anniversary later in the year.

Some of the players from the 1972 team had expressed disappointment in interviews with the i newspaper, with a specific focus on no official caps having been handed out to the group.

Looking back on the game at Ravenscraig Stadium half a century ago, Davies said of the feeling of wearing an England shirt: “It was brilliant.

“It was freezing cold, but it didn’t matter. The pitch was rock hard, if you fell over it was scratched legs. But it was worth every minute.”

The match on Friday sees the Lionesses return to the scene of their Euros glory, where they beat Germany 2-1 after extra time on July 31 in front of a crowd of 87,192 to secure the first major trophy in their history.

Davies said she was “very proud” to have had the part she did in the process leading to where the England team are now, adding: “I think they’re doing exceptionally well at the moment and it’s just nice to see how much the game has grown.”