A moment in history was secured when Lioness Chloe Kelly poked the ball home to claim victory over Germany in the Euros final, but the on-field success was just the beginning.
Despite having just secured the country’s first piece of major silverware since 1966, the celebrations were put on hold as the Lionesses sent an open letter to former prime ministerial contenders Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
The history makers released the letter, outlining their collective belief on how equal access to sport should be granted to every schoolgirl throughout England.
Since then, their legacy wish has been achieved with the Government announcing a transformational change to help every girl follow in their idols’ footsteps.
Prior to their pledge, only 67% of schools offered football to girls in PE lessons, with just 46% of them providing the same extracurricular opportunities as boys.
The Lionesses’ legacy pledge stated schools are to ensure that girls have equal access to all sports whilst backing it by a multi-million-pound investment into school sports and extracurricular activities.
The plans to provide girls with equal opportunity coincides with the ‘Let Girls Play’ campaign as over 200,000 girls have signed up to the LGP ‘Biggest Ever Football Session’ events at schools across the country.
The FA’s Director of Women’s Football, Baroness Sue Campbell, has backed the new legislations.
“A conversation led by Lotte Wubben-Moy and Leah Williamson on the bus from the Trafalgar Square celebrations has delivered real change in society.
“The announcement is testament to their tenacity and excellent engagement with the Government. The FA are as proud of them as we have ever been.
“We’re delighted that it will be made clear to schools that they should offer a minimum of two hours of PE, and they must ensure that girls have equal access to all school sport, including football.”
Since the Lionesses propelled to victory on and off the pitch, national league sides have also noticed the positive effects.
Cheltenham Town defender Holly Finch believes the attitude towards women’s football has improved throughout the pyramid.
“I still think there’s a way to go but it has changed, you have to take every step as it comes, it’s not going to change overnight but people are interested more now.
“More people watch and talk about it now, we hear about it more on channels such as Sky Sports, it’s a lot bigger than it was and it’s proven a point that actually girls can play football just as good as boys, given the opportunity.”
The 20-year-old has witnessed first hand the effects of the Lionesses’ success with many girls now having the opportunity to seek role models within female football.
“I work in a school, and I see that schools are now facilitating girls football teams, when I was younger there were no girls football teams, I played with the boys for years on end.
“It’s now good to see that there are girls’ football teams that are competing as well, it’s not just the teams, there are competitions for them too.
“Those role models are massive, we see them fighting for equal pay, equal opportunities, better facilities and they want to be seen.
“It then makes the younger generation think ‘if you can do it, I can do it’. Now, girls can look up to female footballers as role models which is a good thing.”
Like most women’s team, Cheltenham Ladies have a different home to the men, but a double-header weekend will see both the men’s and women’s side play at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium on Saturday, March 18.
Following in the strides of WSL clubs, Cheltenham Ladies will be provided the chance to demonstrate their great ability to a much wider audience.
Finch welcomed the chance: “I think it’s a good opportunity to show that we can bring a lot of people into the club as well, people do want to come and watch us, and will spend money.
“I think if we put on a good performance in front of a big crowd it will make them come and watch more, it might make them think about travelling to come and watch, I think having a big audience and crowd will massively motivate us.”
Whilst many immediate changes can be seen within the women’s topflight, the national league have launched a new strategy in a bid to bolster the footballing pyramid.
Finch said: “I think the men’s side looked at us as a better group now, I feel like before they didn’t really put much money into women’s football, didn’t let us [collectively] use facilities, but now we’re seeing some female teams get equal pay.”
Within just 200 days, women’s football has seen a monumental change in all aspects and, with a World Cup on the horizon, there is sure to be many more historical moments ahead.
Comentarios