England’s Lionesses let loose
History-making bronze medalists in Canada four years ago, the Lionesses are ready to roar once more in France. FFT caught up with England’s pride to discuss World Cup hopes, inspiring young girls, and a fish called Goater...
Steph, Fran and the gang are ready to take on the world
This being England, it all started with heartbreak. At the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the Lionesses exceeded expectations and then some. After losing their opening fixture 1-0 to France, 2-1 victories against Mexico and Colombia secured England’s second-place passage from Group F and into the last 16. They battled back from 1-0 down against Norway, then stunned the Vancouver crowd of 54,027 with two first-half goals to knock out the hosts, Canada.
And a nation started to believe. The country had taken to the players: Fara Williams, who spent seven years homeless and hid it from team-mates; Fran Kirby who was struck by depression aged 14 following the death of her mum; Alex Scott who washed the kits of the Arsenal men’s side to be able to afford to play.
They played with heart, desire and an almost simple joy that had become slightly divorced from the men’s national team, where the cult of celebrity ruled supreme.
So there was an air of anticipation before the semi-final against holders Japan.
A staggering 2.4 million people tuned in to watch the game on BBC One. In the US, 2.3m watched on Fox Sport 1, a record for a match not featuring their own team.
It looked to be happening once again. After falling a goal behind to a Aya Miyama penalty, the fightback was on. When Steph Houghton was adjudged to have been tripped in the box, up stepped Williams to equalise.
With extra time looming, Japan streamed upfield for one last attack, and disaster struck. In an attempt to intercept a right-wing cross, defender Laura Bassett flicked out a toe and diverted the ball up onto the bar. It bounced down just over the line. It was crushing.
An inconsolable Bassett, terrific throughout the tournament, buried her grief-stricken face in her shirt as Karen Carney and Claire Rafferty comforted her. It was the Lionesses’ ‘Gazza’s tears’ moment. An unlikely run to a World Cup semi-final had ended in tears for England – not just on those far-flung foreign fields but also in living rooms up and down the land back home.
That World Cup was a turning point for the women’s game in England, the next qualitative leap forward after the popularity of Teamgb at the 2012 Olympics. Now, the sport is on another level entirely.
That 2015 squad was a mixture of full-time and part-time players, players that had been forced to graft just for the right to play, the right to kit, the right to use pitches, the right to quality specialised positional coaching.
Every England player is now on a full-time professional contract. They have sponsors. For the first time ever, the women’s team will wear kits designed by Nike to specially meet their needs. They train in first class professional environments. Barclays sponsor the top tier. The quality of the football is the best it’s ever been and it’s improving. It’s no accident that elite Premier League or international men’s players are as technically gifted, physically fit and tactically astute as they are. They’ve been built to be professional footballers from as early as five years old. They’ve been primed, trained and sheltered in glistening academies where they’re relieved of any outside material burdens they may face. Now, their mental health is looked after just as much as their physical health.
In the women’s game, the foundations of that type of pathway are still fresh from being laid, and the first fledglings are poking through into the national team.
Arsenal title-winners Beth Mead and Leah Williamson (below), and Manchester City’s FA Cup and League Cup winners Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway are incredibly exciting products of those vastly improved conditions. They are still a world away from multi-million pound environments ploughed into developing the international male stars of the future, but there is a recognisable route all the way from grassroots to the professional league and Lionesses football for the first time ever. That matters. Because those who say ‘women’s football isn’t as good’ don’t take the material conditions that shape the product into consideration – never mind the scything-down effects of a 50-year ban on women’s football from 1921 when it was attracting tens of thousands though the turnstiles, peaking with 53,000 at Goodison Park.
There are 11 names in Phil Neville’s squad that are going to their first World Cup. Of the other 12 members, four were 23 or under in Canada and are now at the top of the game domestically. Lucy Bronze has won successive Champions League finals since joining Lyon and is arguably the world’s best right-back. Alex Greenwood has justified her drop down to the Championship by leading Manchester United to the league title in their first season. Toni Duggan lined up against Bronze after Barcelona nabbed a place in their first ever Champions League final, while Fran Kirby was named PFA and FWA Player of the Year in 2017-18 after guiding Chelsea to a league and FA Cup double.
Anchoring the team is an experienced and immensely talented spine that has thrived in their newly professional surroundings.
But crucially, in Neville, they have a coach they genuinely feel can help them overcome the fine margin between that 2015 bronze medal and the top.
The Lionesses’ boss didn’t exactly have the smoothest of arrivals after being appointed in January 2018.