Territory marked: Looking back at an incredible year for women’s football

From heartbreak to heroes, FA Cups to landmark caps and everything in between - a look back at the strides the women’s game has made.

Heading into last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, women’s football in England was sitting on a great foundation.  The Women’s Super League (WSL) had been sustainably growing since its inception in 2010, average attendances were steadily rising and a number of key clubs were shifting their programmes full-time.  At grassroots, the FA’s investment in women’s football was starting to pay off as it became the number one team sport.  Off the pitch too, a ground-breaking multi-million pound deal for the Women’s FA Cup naming rights was announced with SSE, while women’s football got the feel-good factor as EA Sport’s welcomed women’s national teams to FIFA for the first time.  But arguably, it was still a sport that existed largely outside of mainstream media and the public’s attention.  Until 12 months ago.

At last summer's World Cup, following a dramatic escape from the group stages, England’s Lionesses began to roar, convincingly beating host’s Canada in the quarter-final.  Although England’s semi-final against Japan saw injury-time heartbreak for the team, it left a play-off match against the Germans for the European bragging rights. These were secured as Fara Williams converted an extra-time spot-kick, winning the Lionesses an unprecedented bronze medal that would cement their place in history and in the hearts of a nation.

Despite the after-hours kick-off times, the BBC reported that 12.6 million viewers had tuned into their tournament coverage. The Lionesses exploits had been plastered across the front and backs of newspapers, and girls and boys alike were discussing the kicks, flicks and wonder strikes of the women’s national team. The squad soon found themselves with invitations to Wimbledon and an appointment with the Prime Minister at No.10 Downing Street - everyone wanted to show their support for the team and congratulate their accomplishments.  This wasn’t just a game changer; it would prove to be life-changing for the Lionesses and marked the start of a huge surge in interest and excitement for the women’s game.

Reaping the effects of the World Cup were top-flight WSL fixtures. Compared to matches prior to the tournament, attendance was up by an average of 47% on the previous round, with teams regularly having over 1,000 fans watching.  The newfound profile of the players was highlighted after matches, as growing groups of fans old and new would wait patiently to share a selfie or brief exchange with their idols.  Furthermore, for the first time in history, 30,000 screaming fans welcomed the 2015 SSE Women's FA Cup Final to the home of football - Wembley Stadium, with a further 1.99 million viewers tuning in at home.  The event and its success signified a change in perception and attitude for women’s football and, with an ever-growing fan base, this was the perfect opportunity to place club teams on the map and into the media spotlight. 

Bristol City WFC vs. Manchester City Women (2015)

Recognition and award nights became the norm over the following months, with the Lionesses taking home BT Sport’s Action Woman of the Year award for 2015. Yet perhaps the most significant of all occurred in November last year. Following her “absolute belter” of a goal at the World Cup, Lucy Bronze made it onto the 12-person shortlist for BBC’s prestigious Sports Personality of the Year award, alongside the likes of Andy Murray and Jessica Ennis-Hill. This was the first time a female footballer had been nominated in the award’s 62-year history.  Despite Bronze seeing her nomination as more of a “representation of how the team had performed” in Canada, this well-earned individual recognition was a welcome statement for the women’s game – they were now competing alongside some of the national treasures of British sport.

The start of 2016 picked up exactly where the successes of 2015 had left off. Following her SPOTY nomination, Bronze was announced as the latest ambassador for Sainsbury’s Active Kids campaign, one of many of the Lionesses who found themselves with new commercial backing. With Captain Steph Houghton also featuring in a new female-focused Virgin Media advert, it appears that big brands are now realising the potential of the game’s personalities to reach new audiences.  At the same time, the media presence of women’s footballers has also continued to rise, the latest example being Eni Aluko joining ITV’s Euro 2016 punditry team.  With over 100 international caps to her name, Aluko is a shining example of an experienced player expanding their profile off the pitch.

On the pitch too, the girls have continued to achieve great things.  In March, Fara Williams became the first-ever English footballer - male or female to reach 150 caps, during the invitational She Believes Cup in the USA.  Later that month, the England team achieved their highest-ever FIFA’s World Ranking, climbing to fourth.  And the girls are not showing any signs of slowing down - a series of authoritative victories has secured them qualification to the Euro 2017 with two games remaining.  With over 30 players already involved in the campaign, including promising debutants such as Rachel Daly and Danielle Carter, the campaign has also highlighted the bright future ahead for the Lionesses.

So what’s next on this incredible journey?  With fresh investment at all levels of the pyramid to drive greater participation and grow the talent pool, increasing media exposure and a growing and passionate fan base, the next 12 months of this journey will surely continue to amaze.  Following the Lionesses’ World Cup bronze medal, FIFA ranking, and early qualification, a top three finish at Euro 2017 is now almost expected from Mark Sampson's side.  Pressure perhaps, but whatever the next year throws at these players, the barriers they have broken and the success already achieved prove they are a force to be reckoned with.

Co-written with Ashley Brown, founder of Soccerella

Niamh McKevitt: from both sides of the ball

I was given the opportunity by Soccerella* to interview Niamh McKevitt - a 16 year old girl who's just published her first book Playing with the boys. She details her incredible and often amusing journey growing up as the sole girl playing in a boys league...here's what we discussed.

Ask Niamh (pronounced “Nieve”) how she ended up with the boys, and she will tell you it was never a choice between boys or girls, but rather the desire “to be playing at the highest standard I could”, and make the next “step up” in the game.  While this has recently led her to shift her attentions to the highest ranks of the women’s game, joining Huddersfield Town in the FA WPL North (a feeder league to WSL2), she spent the first part of her football career competing in the top division of her local boys junior league.  Here, despite some initial apprehension from her new teammates, she quickly found herself accepted as her talent at left-back became apparent: “the boys wanted you in the team, regardless of whether you were a boy or girl”.

As she developed, Niamh did occasionally experience girl’s football, especially as she approached the FA’s cut-off ages for mixed teams.  Happily for Niamh, these were continually reviewed and shifted throughout her career and, as of the current season, mixed teams are allowed until the age of 18.  Given her experience in both environments, Niamh is well-placed to highlight some of the differences between the relative styles of boys and girls football.  One of the clearest contrasts was in training – while girls treated training as a chance to develop, “for the boys, it may as well have been the FA Cup Final”, such was their competitive nature.  On the flip side, Niamh highlights the greater emphasis on technique and tactics in the girl’s game, praising the high level of coaching (typically with coaches near UEFA B standard) that she had at spells with Derby County and Sheffield United. 

In her eyes, both sides could learn from one another.  She agrees with the assessment of Faye White, her role model and ex-England captain, who once said “you can tell which girls have played mixed football, as there is more desire” – having seen her own role transform from being one of the quieter members on the pitch in the boy’s game to being “one of the mouthiest girls on the team”; to both teammates and referees alike!  Yet, by her own admission, at full-back she is a stopper, and doesn’t see herself playing with the finesse shown by some of her peers in the women’s game.  Ultimately, Niamh thinks that both approaches carry their virtues and (in case the FA is reading!) argues greater integration between boys and girls at younger ages could encourage this balanced development.

Changing perceptions

When asked about the current state of women’s football, Niamh is confident that perceptions of the game are heading in the right direction, especially following this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.  For her, “people want to support a team that’s doing well and they want to support England – and if they want to get both of these things, then that’s the England Women’s team”.

The recent tournament brought unprecedented success and attention to an English team, who, going into the tournament, were somewhat of an underdog. And, after a heart-breaking semi-final, the Lionnesses even overcame the curse of the Germans, with Fara Williams scoring from the spot in extra time to earn England the bronze medal.  From heartbreak to triumph; the women’s team made history and put women in football right where it should be – in the spotlight.  The team returned home as heroes and role models to both girls and boys around the country and Niamh saw the shifts in perceptions first-hand.  Firstly, she was bemused by the boys at school now asking her all about the players (not least Lucy Bronze after her stunning goal vs. Norway), but admits that she’d been trying for years to get them interested beforehand!  She also sees that “young girls are [being] inspired, they see it’s something women can do and that it is a women’s sport”.  In the media as well, it appears that the sport, so often male-dominated, is finally starting to get the recognition it deserves, a stepping stone in the right direction for our national sport.   

What’s still needed?

However, Niamh still believes that more can be done to maintain and build on the new interest levels of women’s football.  She thinks that newspapers and other media channels continue to underestimate the potential interest in the game: “they think there is no want for content, but there is pent up desire, just no outlet for it”.  As for the Women’s Super League, she believes more can still be done to improve the accessibility of the product – firstly, with advertising the current matches and then with adapting the schedule to become more consistent, with fewer weekends off and reducing the mid-season break.  But she recognises its potential, noting that “what will determine how much the sport grows is the WSL and the European leagues, how well they are publicised and our future successes at World Cups.”

Niamh also thinks the success will be driven to an extent by the league’s ability to generate world-class, superstar players – those such as Alex Morgan today, and Mia Hamm for past generations.  She recognises the success that FIFA has made with this on the men’s side and sees it as a channel to grow the women’s game globally, both commercially and to encourage fresh participation.  So, who are Niamh’s big three Lionnesses?  After some reflection, she decides on Jill Scott, Fara Williams and Casey Stoney today, but also recognises the impact that Kelly Smith and Faye White had on her career, admitting that she idolised the pair since Primary School, where she used to write biographies of them.

What does the future hold… and a trip down memory lane

In 2012, Niamh hypothesised that she would “never play professionally in front of 50,000 people” – but is she now reconsidering this?  While admitting the future is bright for the sport, and particularly the WSL, Niamh says she hasn’t yet given much thought to a possible career in football.  For now, her attentions are set on developing her game with Huddersfield Town, earning a scholarship to play college soccer in the US and, let’s not forget, celebrating the publishing of her first book at the tender age of 16!

As we conclude, we asked Niamh for a few of her best memories with the boys.  Firstly, she told us about scoring a rare goal to complete a hard-fought 3-3 comeback in the cup quarter-final – and the resulting awkward moment as the boys considered a massive hug before resorting to a more conservative high-five (although we suggested the bowling ball celebration may have been a better compromise…).  And then there are great moments that you can only get by being a girl in a boy’s game.  In a tale from tour, Niamh chuckles as she recounts her colourfully-worded suggestion to a poor lad, having just dived in front of her that he might want to get up...  “I didn’t realise it at the time, but it was right in front of all the watching teams… let’s just say, he won’t be diving again any time soon!”

*Soccerella is a store dedicated to women's football in the UK. Niamh's book is available online here: http://soccerel.la/