If you’re still resisting women’s football or are telling yourself that ‘I’m not against it, it just doesn’t appeal to me’ so as not to feel like you are the patriarchal monster at the party, or perhaps you simply don’t soil your eyes with what you wrongly think isn’t elite football, then you’ll be ignoring the Euros, which start on Wednesday.
But millions feel differently and the naysayers are now looking increasingly isolated and outdated. Need I remind you that England are defending champions, a victory that is still tearfully joyful, three years later.
And with Arsenal brilliantly beating Barcelona to be Champions League winners in an extraordinary performance, English women’s football is on a bit of a high and boasts some of the biggest stars of the game.
As the Club World Cup plays out in the North American heat to win a trophy that few outside of South America care about, much less watch – as evidenced by DAZN’s inability to sell all the advertising space during their broadcast except to themselves and the Saudi tourist board – this Euros is set to be the most competitive yet and the quality has never been higher.
I watched the U-19 final on Friday; Spain beat France 4-0 and they played the same way all Spanish teams play, passing France to death (which makes Lee Carsley’s recent victory very impressive) so I expect they’ll be favourites. But England are so strong in the front third and no one will relish playing them.
Even though they have suffered some devastating pull-outs, the squad is still strong and in Sarina Wiegman they have one of the world’s best managers.. Refreshingly, she actually answers questions rather than being defensive and looking like she’s being quizzed by the Stasi when interviewed.
Even if you don’t follow the league closely, you’ll probably recognise these women, if only from looking embarrassed in Walkers crisp adverts. They are the stars of the game and the very best players too.
The league game is worryingly already reflecting the financial inequalities of the Premier League and losing some of its pulling power because of that predictability – we’ve seen that movie before – but in mitigation, it’s coming from meager beginnings, it’s still early days and many problems structural and financial are still to be overcome. The next stage is to have self-funding autonomous clubs to avoid being beholden to the despotic and despicable owners which are primarily, in terms of resources, dedicated to the men’s teams. That feels some way off yet.
That said, things are changing all the time and they’re at least 50 years and culturally even further behind where the game would have been had they not been shut down since the 1920s.
International football is where it’s at just now. It gets the big crowds and the players are household names. It all goes beyond the on-pitch action. We know how footballers can inspire kids; it’s been well documented. Last week, Joe Cole (who was talked about, even on Teesside, as a wunderkind years before he even played first-team football) was saying he wouldn’t have been a player without being inspired by Gazza. Well, the women’s England team can multiply that several times over.
They are role models and inspirational figures for youngsters from all over the land. It’s a lovely thing to see and in a harsh world that often seems to be a dystopian nightmare, a welcome bit of positivity. The happy faces of children at games lifts the heart, which is shamefully rare in football. The fact it is almost the exact opposite to the male football norms, in being relaxed, open and inclusive, means all children can embrace the sport and do not feel excluded because of their gender or sexuality. Who can gainsay that, apart from the always-ready-to-be-disgusting disgusted Reform voters, obviously.
England face an uphill struggle in the group stage, playing France, Netherlands and Wales. This is their biggest tournament test yet, pitted as they are against two of the top sides in the competition. But of the 16 teams in the competition, nearly half will think they’re in with a chance. The Club World Cup it ain’t.
This is a few weeks to put aside the tedious modern obsession with finances and transfers and get stuck into a proper competition. I’m hugely looking forward to it. Whether England are successful or not, it’s set to be a great (and free) watch from Switzerland from July 2 to 27 and I suspect it will be a significant moment in women’s football’s timeline.
