As part of the Three鈥檚 #WeSeeYou Network, an initiative in partnership with Chelsea FC Women that recognises and champions women in football, Three has recreated Lily Parr, arguably one of England鈥檚 greatest players 鈥 estimated to have scored more than 960 goals in her career, which is more than Cristiano Ronaldo. By bringing her to the present day via AI technology for a never-before-seen inspirational conversation with former Chelea FC Women player turned TV presenter, Karen Carney, Three hopes to inspire the next generation of 鈥楲ily鈥檚.
The three-minute interview, launched through PR and social media on International Women鈥檚 Day, shines a light on one of Britain鈥檚 most talented but forgotten footballing heroes.
The campaign was developed by Generation - Three鈥檚 in-house agency 鈥 working closely with Mischief PR and Three鈥檚 in-house PR, social and sponsorship teams.
Aislinn O鈥機onnor, marketing director at Three UK & Ireland said, 鈥淎t Three, we are honoured to bring Lily Parr鈥檚 story to life using the very latest AI technology. By paying homage to the enormous legacy Lily has given us and laying foundations for so many sportswomen, we hope today鈥檚 launch inspires the next generation of female talent. Her message is as true today as it was then 鈥 we need more action to support women of all ages in sport. Through our partnership with Chelsea FC Women, Three鈥檚 #WeSeeYou Network is now in its third season and continues to grow, champion and provide opportunities for the all-too-often hidden women and the beautiful game.鈥
Speaking about her involvement in the campaign, Karen Carney said, 鈥淔or many years women's football faced challenges to be seen and celebrated, which would have given so many incredible players the opportunity to play and help grow the game. Legends like Lily Parr paved the way, and working with Three and the #WeSeeYou Network to bring her story to life has been an incredible experience. I was proud to be a part of this campaign, and I hope it inspires future generations to keep pushing forward.鈥
The project demonstrates how AI technology can be used as a force for good - enhancing, rather than replacing, the human craft behind storytelling. The recreation of Lily Parr focussed on unlocking a story that would have otherwise remained untold. By combining AI technology with expert historical research, performance capture and digital artistry - to bring Lily鈥檚 legacy to life in an authentic and powerful way.
How Three reimagined Lily Parr
Women鈥檚 football historian and Professor of Sport at the University of Wolverhampton, Jean Williams, was first brought in to work with Three on the recreation of Lily Parr. By feeding the technology a series of archival information from Lily Parr and those who knew her, she helped to inform the personality and character of the AI responses.
The AI-powered version of Lily Parr was then brought to life using advanced digital motion technology combined with archival material and personal accounts to share her remarkable story with new audiences, with the help of the team at Territory Studios.
The process began with restoring archival photos and footage of Lily to reveal her facial features in high resolution, bringing her likeness back into vivid detail. Multiple layers of advanced AI techniques were then applied to reconstruct her unique features into a high-resolution, colourised portrait. Where AI was unable to maintain authenticity or achieve the desired composition, traditional digital artistry was employed to refine and finalize the image, with careful detailing and finishing touches.
To achieve the final result, Three partnered with an actor, whose performance helped capture Lily鈥檚 essence and enhance her digital recreation. This collaboration was paired with sophisticated AI networks, including facial landmark detection, and 3D mapping. The seamless integration of these technologies enabled an ultra-realistic face-swap.
Greg Farrington, senior creative, generation at Three said, 鈥淭aking 鈥榃e See You鈥 literally, we set out to recreate Lily as authentically as possible - her appearance, her stories, her voice. To bring this vision to life, we partnered with Territory Studio, who meticulously reconstructed her likeness using archival imagery and pioneering AI. For the script, we developed a custom Lily GPT, co-created and fact-checked by football historian Jean Williams. To ensure her personality and accent felt genuine, we collaborated with a method actor, as well as a voice and body language coach. And who better to share this 1920s legend鈥檚 story - than 2020s icon and women's football champion Karen Carney.鈥
Dorian Thomas, ECD at Territory Studio said about the technical development, 鈥淎s a creatively driven design studio, Territory embrace AI as a powerful tool that enhances our artistic process. This project was particularly unique, requiring us to carefully select the right tools while also understanding AI鈥檚 limitations and determining where traditional skills were still essential. One of our biggest challenges was that this couldn鈥檛 be executed as a straightforward digital face replacement (DFR) using deepfake technology - we simply didn鈥檛 have the necessary data. To overcome this, we had to take a single image and process it to meet modern standards. This image was then fed through our bespoke AI model to generate a viable DFR. Initially, we faced several constraints from a live-action perspective, but as we refined our model, many of these limitations disappeared, allowing the director and actress greater freedom in their performance.鈥
Ben Walker, executive creative director, generation at Three said, "AI is often framed as a threat to creativity, but this project shows its real strength lies in expanding what鈥檚 possible. Without it, Lily Parr鈥檚 story - her likeness, her presence, her impact - would have remained firmly in the past. By blending advanced technology with deep human craft, historical research, and performance capture, we鈥檝e been able to bring her back to share her own legacy. This wasn鈥檛 about cutting creatives and their skillsets out of the process; it was about giving them the tools to do something that鈥檚 never been done before. AI became the bridge between history and today, helping us honour Lily Parr in the most authentic way possible."