7,000 people in a capped Trafalgar Square in 2022 brought scenes of jubilation unlike anything the women’s game has ever seen when the Lionesses famously beat Germany to secure the nation’s first ever European trophy; the first ever honour won by the women’s international side and the first England team to win a trophy since 1966.
The scenes in Trafalgar Square just a day after the final were magnificent, but the aforementioned cap, when the tournament itself had broken all kinds of records, left a lot of questions on just how celebrating the women’s game could be so restricted.
In the three years since, we have seen extortionate demand and a sport that has grown so quickly, that not even the most ardent supporter of the women’s game could have expected just how quickly the game would grow. Week on week sellouts of ticket allocations up and down the country, bigger TV deals and more calls for games at the club’s main stadiums. The growth has been so vast, that some levels of the sport are still playing catch up.
Fast forward almost three years to the day, the incredible, some might even say the impossible was achieved once again as the Lionesses retained their European crown following a wonderful penalty shootout win over Spain in Basel. Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty, just as she scored the winner in the final three years previous, and Hannah Hampton defied virtually every single odd to even be playing football, saved two penalties to help bring football home.
It’s virtually every other week the Lionesses seem to break a record, but they became the first senior England side to lift a trophy on foreign soil, even though it felt like a home tournament at times with the number of England supporters flocking to Switzerland.
Give it the platform and it will grow. Give these women the space and the chances they so richly deserve and people will come and watch. Just ask the 65,000 people, who turned up to the Mall in Central London on 29th July to give the team a hero’s welcome.
As thousands upon thousands lined the streets, with millions watching at home, it makes you wonder just how far the women’s game can go this coming season and whether it will usher in a new dawn for supporters up and down the country.
People from every different walk of life came together to celebrate, all leaving club allegiances rightfully at the door and celebrating these wonderful people and footballers. It will soon be time to put our club shirts back on however, and it remains to be seen just how captivated people will be by this summer’s incredible tournament.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea are offering supporters ‘packs’ of games, with Arsenal offering a ‘first six’ home game pack for games at the Emirates, and Chelsea offering a pack of four for games at Stamford Bridge, it remains to be seen what other clubs will do in terms of ‘main stadium’ usage, but it’s certainly a good start from two of the most well supported women’s football sides not just in England but the world.
The rebrand of the WSL, is another exciting element that has been the topic of much conversation across the summer, with the hopes that it will help create a more unified approach across the top two divisions of the women’s game.
A mere walk through most parks will now see young children trying to emulate Chloe Kelly’s now famous penalty technique – people proudly wearing tops bearing the names of Lionesses’ out in public is becoming normalised too. Leah Williamson and Lauren James’ faces adorn Pepsi Max cans, not to mention the two London rivals being the latest faces of Walkers Crisps too; something which even three years ago, this level of endorsements and deals for female footballers just simply didn’t exist.
Overall, the staggering impact the Lionesses have had on the women’s game has outshone everything predicted, but the unprecedented back-to-back victories, could catapult the game to new heights even greater than the ones we have passed since the first European trophy lift three years ago.
