‘Not just a flash in the pan’ – Lionesses’ legacy

When England won the European Championship in 2022 it was a watershed moment for women’s football in the country.

Match attendances skyrocketed, investment grew and media coverage increased.

But after England triumphed in Switzerland on Sunday to retain their European crown following a dramatic penalty shootout against Spain, England manager Sarina Wiegman said: “We’re not there yet.”

The legacy of Euro 2022 – England’s first major women’s trophy – will be difficult to surpass in its importance to the growth of women’s football.

But that of Euro 2025 – a first major trophy won on foreign soil and the first time an English senior team has retained a title – could prove crucial in further cementing the game’s place in society.

Captain Leah Williamson, speaking before Sunday’s final, said: “You don’t want to be a flash in the pan, a memory, and when we spoke before 2022 we said it was the start of something.

“We are still trying to play our role in that. We know how powerful that is. I hope it continues to grow, the respect for women’s football, the respect for women and women’s sport in general – we can try our best to elevate that.”

Success for the Lionesses translates as success for the women’s game in England.

After the Euro 2022 victory, interest in the domestic game piqued with every Women’s Super League club seeing increased attendances the following season. A similar spike was felt after the 2023 World Cup, where England lost to Spain in the final.

Clubs that were home to high-profile Lionesses drew the biggest crowds, with Arsenal attracting the most and setting a new WSL attendance record of 47,367 in their first home game at Emirates Stadium post-Euros.

The Gunners have gone on to break the WSL attendance record another three times, but last season average attendances dropped by 10% compared with the previous campaign.

For the first time in three years the WSL did not benefit from taking place after an international tournament where there had been home success after Great Britain failed to qualify for the Olympics.

It is not just attendances that spiked following Euro 2022. Here are some other significant developments:

The players have never shied away from their role in advocating for positive change for women and girls’ football.

Just hours after winning Euro 2022, England defender Lotte Wubben-Moy spearheaded an ultimately successful campaign in which the Lionesses’ squad wrote an open letter to the then-government demanding equal access to school football for girls.

Successive governments have since turned her words into action and on Monday ministers announced plans to double the amount of time women’s and girls’ football teams get allocated at government-funded sports facilities.

“These girls are constantly using their voice for change,” said former England striker Ellen White.

“Wanting to inspire a nation and wanting to gain more opportunities for young people and young girls. They’re so inspiring – they want to make change. They are perfect role models.”

They have shown they are not afraid of speaking out on causes they believe in. Williamson, who wears a rainbow armband in support of LGBTQ+ rights when playing for England, previously said it was “rubbish” to tell players to “stick to football” and avoid politics before the men’s World Cup in Qatar.

Before the last Women’s World Cup, former Lionesses goalkeeper Mary Earps called out Nike for failing to sell England women’s goalkeeper shirts, which led to the sportswear giant making a U-turn.

During Euro 2025, after defender Jess Carter was subjected to online racist abuse, the Lionesses decided they would no longer take the knee before games as they did not feel it was having enough impact. “[It is] clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism,” they said in a statement.

Win or lose, the Lionesses feel a sense of responsibility for women’s football and frequently talk about inspiring the next generation of young boys and girls to play.

Speaking after celebrating with fans in central London, Williamson said: “Everything we do, we do it for us and our team but we do it for the country and young girls.

“This job never existed 30 or 40 years ago and we’re making history every single step. Stay with us, this story is not done yet.

While the legacy of Euro 2022 is clear, everyone involved in women’s football knows there is still a long way to go.

“This is another massive ignition moment,” said Nikki Doucet – the chief executive of WSL Football, which has taken over responsibility of the WSL and the WSL 2 this season.

“In some ways I think we’re even more set up to capitalise on this opportunity now that we have the independent company set up – it’s our job to take the inspiration and run with it as fast and hard as we can.”

Most WSL clubs are reliant on financial support from a men’s team, although London City Lionesses will become the first team with no affiliation with a men’s club to play in the women’s top flight this season.

Outside the top flight, clubs’ positions are much more precarious. Blackburn became the latest example as they decided to withdraw from the second tier, now WSL 2, for this season as they could not meet the financial and operational requirements of the league.

Last summer Reading, who were in the WSL as recently as two years ago, decided to withdraw from the second tier and drop to the fifth because of financial issues.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said the WSL was on a “good trajectory” and success at Euro 2025 will “turbo-charge” that along with plans for grassroots growth.

“We want to get to the point where you know we should have the same number of girls and women playing football as boys and men, and until we’ve done that we’ve got a job to do,” he said.

FA director of women’s football, Sue Day, agreed there was much more to be done for women’s football in England.

“We want more matches on the TV, we want more opportunities for fans to be able to get involved, we want more money to be able to pay the players with, we want more kids playing in schools,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme.

“So we have to really capture this moment and turn it into everything we all want football to be for girls.”

The England team have already shown in the aftermath of their latest triumph that they will continue to make their voices heard.

Speaking at a reception at Downing Street on Monday, manager Wiegman said: “We need some more investment. We’re not there yet.

“In England we’re up there but England needs to stay the trailblazer, it needs to be the big example – the players first but also the Football Association, the clubs, the government, the country, the fans. Let’s keep being the trailblazers.”

And the players are already planning their next move.

Midfielder Georgia Stanway said: “The point is now we don’t have to keep winning to create a legacy and create change… but the fact that we win, it opens the doors so much more, gives us so much more opportunity to make change.

“We’ll discuss as a player group what it will look like over the next few weeks and what we want to go into. But this is a massive door for us to step into.”-BBC