The Lionesses aren’t like male footballers. They are far better

And here we are again: an England side in the final of the Euros, carrying the burden of the entire nation’s vicarious sporting ambition, as well as the expectation that they would end 50-odd years of hurt by lifting the first major football trophy since the 1966 World Cup. The difference being that while Gareth Southgate’s men were cruelly robbed in 2021, the Lionesses roared to victory.

But while the women’s competition has been just as keenly fought as the men’s on the pitch, offpitch, there is a striking difference of tone: the winner-takes-all aesthetic of the men’s game replaced by a more reflective philosophy. Before the final, the England captain, Leah Williamson, observed that whatever the result: “The final is not the end of a journey, but the start of one … a marker for the future.” The real trophy, she suggested, would not be the silverware, but a permanent change in attitudes to women’s equality in sport and wider society.

The German coach, Martina Voss-tecklenburg, agreed that the Euros have been as much about a resetting of perceptions as sporting success: “We will only win if everything that is happening in Germany, in England ends in a sustainable way.”

These days, almost all major sporting events come garlanded with righteous talk of legacy. But when the hoped-for legacy is as ambitious as societal change – rather than, say, ensuring community access to former Olympic infrastructure – the momentum might prove harder to sustain.

Still, when the brouhaha has died down, there is the potential for the England women to make a difference. They are, firstly, great ambassadors for getting off the sofa and moving about.

That in itself could transform the physical and mental health of women and girls, given that a recent survey by the Nuffield Health charity found almost half of women respondents had done no vigorous exercise in the past 12 months.

But perhaps the most notable thing about the comportment of the Lionesses during the Euros has been their apparent lack of the wayward individualism characteristic of elite male footballers. No one in the England women’s squad has gone viral on social media for drop-kicking a cat. Their spouses and partners are discreet to the point of near-invisibility. And with their uniformly sensible hairdos, they actually look like a team, rather than a gaggle of vainglorious prima donnas.

At a time when everything, from politics to world events and even the weather seems toxic, the England women’s combination of a desire to win, coupled with their sense that winning is only part of a bigger story, seems to presage a refreshing new chapter in our national sporting history.

Here I have to admit that, lacking any competitive spirit, I am quite unable to see the beauty in the beautiful game. When I watch it on the telly, more often than I should like, it is purely to humour the football-mad men in my life – and this Euro final is no exception. As so often, I will spend 90-odd minutes contemplating a lot of mysterious running-about in whose eventual outcome I have no interest.

But with this intriguing difference: that whatever the eventual score, each side has a bigger goal on which they both agree. Which is – or surely should be – the point of sport.