Lionesses roaring into the big time
WHEN the England women’s football team kick off their Euro 2022 campaign against Austria on July 6, it will be nearly 50 years since their first official modern-day international. The circumstances couldn’t be more different. The current England side is fully professional, run by the FA and will be playing in front of a sell-out crowd at Old Trafford in Manchester, one of our most prestigious grounds. The match will be broadcast live on the BBC and could attract a record number of viewers for a women’s game. In contrast, that first official international against Scotland since a ban on women’s games was lifted was played by amateurs under the auspices of the Women’s Football Association in front of 400 spectators at a small multipurpose stadium in Greenock. There was no TV coverage. As a member of that winning England squad of November 18, 1972, I couldn’t be more pleased at the progress made — or more frustrated at how long it has taken. If the FA hadn’t effectively banned women’s football in 1921 after club side Dick, Kerr Ladies had played in front of 53,000 spectators at Goodison Park in Liverpool — with restrictions that stayed in place for nearly 50 years — who knows where the game would be now? Better late than never, though, and the FA has been working hard to support and promote the women’s game. Playing at home, with a prestigious new manager and a squad packed with talent, England have a great chance in the European Championship. I will be one of many glued to the TV, hoping we can make it to the final on July 31 and lift the trophy in front of a capacity Wembley crowd. That could, at last, send the women’s game into the stratosphere!
WenDy oWen, neston, cheshire. WHAT happens to Premier League players when they pull on an England shirt? Hardly anyone performed well in the shock 1-0 defeat by an average Hungary side in the UEFA Nations
League opener. With walking-pace football, square passing and poor ball control, the players looked like they were on holiday. Why did manager Gareth Southgate select such a strange line-up? If the excuse is that players have had a hard season, why leave out Jack Grealish in the first half? He has started only half of Manchester City’s games so should be fresh — he looked lively when he came on. Our national team failed in its last big competition and it could be the same story this time round. Wake up, England!
paul MarSTon, Walsall, W. Mids.