Kicking a ball around in the back garden of her Lancashire home as a kid, Liv Cooke knew what she wanted to be.

What she didn't know, and still finds hard to believe, is what she'd end up achieving.

At just 17, she became the women's freestyle football champion. And three years later she has four world records to her name and is the current world champion.

"There was never really an age or a point in my life where I thought I want to be a freestyler," she says. “Everyone always thinks there’s a moment which acts as a catalyst and propels you, but looking at my journey, I can’t really see a breakthrough moment.

“It’s just been putting in that hard work and building my skill level up to the point where people see these videos online and people say ‘oh wow she’s actually really good’ and that just gains the respect.”

And speaking exclusively to NewsChain, Cooke revealed that it was in fact injury that propelled her into the world of freestyle.

During her teenage years she had her heart set on becoming a professional footballer. She joined the Centre of Excellence programme to try to get noticed by the top teams. And it was her coach who suggested she trialled for Blackburn Rovers of FA Championship. 

She broke into the team straight away and was there for two years from the age of 14, playing with the likes of today's England stars Georgia Sanway and Keria Walsh. 

But a recurring back injury from playing too much football forced her out of the game for over three months. It was in that moment she decided to quit football and try something else, freestyling.

She said: “It (football) was my life but some things happen for a reason and that injury broke my heart because I was doing it every single day. But actually, it turns out to probably be the best thing that happened to me because I discovered freestyle.

“During this time I was out in my garden trying to do things which didn’t hurt my back. So if I was sat down on the floor, trying to do kick-ups and that’s when my skill level and freestyle developed.

“When I was fit and ready to go back to football I discovered free-style online on Instagram. I then posted my own videos, just a few basic tricks and Nickelodeon invited me to an event and I went along to this event in London."

An Italian athlete called Laura Biondo, who is the 2016 world freestyle champion, headlined the event.

“I was absolutely in awe, bearing in mind I could do like three tricks maximum at this point. And this girl was on her back, dribbling upside down. I was like ‘what the hell is going on there, where can I learn that'.

“That’s when I became fixated and I followed her on Instagram and just tried to copy some of her moves.”

But over the years, the pair became close. Cooke recalled: "At my first competition, Red Bull Street Style, in 2016 in London, they drew the names out the hat to decide the seeding order and and it just so happens that Laura was to battle me. 

"I remember coming off stage and I blacked out with the tricks that I did but I won and I won 3-0 against her.

"She was there for me before my first battles and looking out for me and helping me in every way."

Football was always the centre of Cooke’s life, whether that be playing on the streets with her two older brothers, Jack and Sam, or watching her favourite team, Manchester United, as a season ticket holder. 

But freestyling was never on the agenda and with it taking over her life, she now doesn't have the time to watch United anymore. 

The highlight for was achieving her ultimate dream, winning the world championships in Prague in the summer of 2017.

In a world where football is the be all and end all and Champions League trophies and domestic league titles are the goal, in freestyle, the competitions are completely different. They are based around the scenario of a dance-off, with no age cap and with only gender separating the sport.

“It just works like a street dance competition, people are entered and then you go through the different phases, you go through the different qualifications, the group stages, up until you get to the final until the winner is crowned," Cooke explained.

“The battle itself works like street dance, so if you or me are going head-to-head, I would go for 30 seconds, then you would go for 30 seconds, so it’s like we are responding to each other and we get three sets of 30 seconds.

“And then a panel of judges picks the winner based on difficulty, style, creativity, execution and just like all-around entertainment, like battling your opponent properly."

Cooke is not your typical freestyler, she says some ‘go with the flow’ when it comes to the world championships but she did the complete opposite.

“I prepped very well and studied everyone in the game. I picked who I thought would end up in the top 15 and I would analyse every part of their abilities.

“Obviously I over-estimated their abilities in case they were training even harder than I had predicted, so I knew exactly what their strengths and weaknesses were so I could exploit them.

“So I knew if they do a move, which I can do better I am responding straight away or almost trying to humiliate them in a way.”

When asked if there is a competitor, she replies: “No, come on (laughing).” And the stats show she is near impossible to beat. To be the best in the world Cooke believes you’ve got to be ‘crazy for it’ as she recalls training up to six hours a day.

Her most impressive record is the 217 juggles on the sole of the foot in 60 seconds. This is where she is lying on her back, with her feet in the air, juggling the ball on the sole of her foot.

“It was so painful, I’m not going to lie. I don’t know how I managed to do that, I can’t see myself or anyone beating that anytime soon," she said.

The two records Cooke is confident she can break are the 27 leg rolls in 30 seconds, which is where she sits down on the floor and the ball is travelling round her legs. The other is 17 sole passes in 30 seconds, this is when she is standing and passes the ball in between her soles.

It was only recently she broke her own and final world record, when she completed 201 shin juggles in 60 seconds, beating her previous attempt of 181.

Cooke’s social media following is in the thousands and she has created videos with her highest receiving 140 million views. But where does the funding come from for her to be able to travel around the world and continue to make freestyling videos?

“There’s not any freestyle prize money from the World Championships, but then again the competition isn’t about the money, you're putting in that much work every single day to become the best in the world, you do it for the prestige and proving that you are the best.

“I guess from winning it gave me credibility and respect and then the big companies took me seriously and wanted to work with me, like I wanted to work with them. I’m paid from social media, as well from the following I’ve got there. It comes from how you capitalise off your skills and your titles.”

And Cooke has done exactly that as she owns her dream car, a white BMW i8. 

"I got that last year. My new dream car is a white Lamborghini Huracan," she said.

She has also started up a real estate company,called Liv Cooke Properties.

"I’m very much into residential real estate investing, so I’ve just founded Liv Cooke properties and my aim with that is to have 10 residential properties. I already have one secured and the next two are in process."

However, with the pressure of social media and being in a sport which requires a lot of creativity, Cooke does find it challenging at times.

“It’s really difficult when you are trying to do content every single day to constantly come up with creative videos that don’t bore people, that aren’t repetitive. It is very difficult and I think a lot of people underestimate that but I think if I keep myself in a good mood, I’m quite a creative person.

“I think everybody probably thinks to grow a following online and to get millions of views you need to a production crew. But I don’t. I’ve always been very minimal, I have an iPhone and it used to be my mum who I used to drag out with me to hold the phone. But now luckily things have progressed with me and I’ve got an assistant that comes out with me and films me."

Cooke gets inspiration for her videos from the way a 'wall is shaped' or if a 'railing looks like a crossbar'.

"My favourite place to shoot videos are astro turf football pitches or urban looking courts. I just love street vibes and bright lighting.

“I am a bit of a control freak if I’m honest. It has to be shot how I say because I have a vision for it and it has to be right.

“Most of my videos, I have planned and gone out to make for entertainment purposes. But my training itself wouldn’t be entertaining to anyone, it’s just repeating the same tricks over and over and I get frustrated when I don’t land them. I post-training clips every now and then when I land a new move or something.

“I will post a move and everyone will be like ‘oh wow this is amazing’ but then I will follow up with a video showing all the bloopers and training that it took to landing that trick. Just to show people, and especially the kids that follow me, that this isn’t natural and that it does take a lot of work and they can do it too.”

So what advice would she give an aspiring freestyler? "To give up now, because you’re never going to beat me. I’m joking, I’m joking, it depends what they are aiming for, if they are just doing it for fun then that’s amazing, just do tricks that you enjoy and have fun with it.

“If they want to be the best in the world, they need to understand how mentally and physically challenging it will be. But they also need to know that it is possible and it is worth it, if they put their work in then they can be the best, and be better than me.”

On the side from freestyling, Cooke is a presenter for the BBC on Match of the Day X and she also does features for Football Focus and Match of the Day. She has also done match take-overs for Manchester United men's social media and is an ambassador for UEFA.

“With UEFA I have my own Youtube called ‘Play Anywhere’ and that’s where I travel to different cities across Europe, finding out what it’s like to play football there, listening to somebody’s story and chatting to them. I showcase my skills and the aim of this series is to put a spotlight on women’s football in each city and see how we can help and engage younger girls.

“On my social media I’m always trying to show girls that we can do it too and we are, if not, better than the guys.”

Even though her life led her down another path, she still supports women’s football, being a Manchester United fan. She thinks the Women’s Super League is ‘great’ and that the ‘professionalism’ surrounding the game is huge.

Despite all her achievements, there was a time Cooke wished she had not won the world championships.

“When I achieved it was the best feeling in the world but once we finished celebrating it was a bit like ‘what now’. 

"For my whole life I worked for that and then it was done. It was hard to find new things to motivate me and it did take a while to get back to myself. At one point I was wishing I hadn’t won just because I wanted that desire for something again.

“But this is where I have led the other side of my career, with social media and the presenting and the broadcasting. What motivates me is a goal and progressing towards your goals every single day.”

And that's probably why Cooke is the best at what she does.