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

These girls can - British women with the backing of a nation

There hasn't been a better time to write about women in sport and the change in attitude that is stemming from their feats on the field. In this past week, women have shown exactly what sport should be about; passion, courage and determination. From the pristine lawns of Wimbledon to the astro turfs of Canada, British women have been displaying sporting greatness and proving they can battle it out on a World stage. With increasing media coverage of female sports we have been able to witness this greatness, and with this comes a change in the thoughts, opinions and attitudes of the general population – a change for the better.

From Heather Watson; the British number one tennis player nearly knocking the World number 1; Serena Williams, out of Wimbledon, to the English Women's football team, reaching the semi-finals of the football world cup for the first time in FIFA history, the Brits are leading the way and with the backing of a whole Nation.

The history of women in sport is somewhat ridiculous. For a period of time in athletics, women were banned from running distances further than 800m as it was seen as detrimental to health, particularly childbirth. Women’s football was banned for 50 years by the FA until the realisation that it was considered unsuitable for a women’s physical frame was based on misconception not fact, and was subsequently re-introduced in the 1970s. One of the most recent changes in sport was the inclusion of women’s boxing at the 2012 Olympics, and aren’t Team GB grateful – Nicola Adams taking the first ever Olympic gold seemed fitting for the host nation. Women in sport are starting to be taken more seriously. There are still discrepancies between the men and women in certain sports, with financial backing perhaps being the most outrageous difference. Yet this is beginning to change, and so it should. For the first time ever, in 2007, Wimbledon introduced equal prize money for men and women – a change in fortune but more so a change in attitude.

Heather Watson ranked world number 59 and the last surviving UK woman in the Wimbledon 2015 draw, was to take on the world number 1 and potentially the best woman player tennis has ever seen – Serena Williams. The pre-match feature included that of a 12 year old Heather Watson interviewed in her Guernsey home, explaining how her role models in the sport included the likes of the player she was about to step on court with. The younger Watson went on to say how she hoped that one day, she would be a role model for other girls; well that she is. A nervy first set from Watson finished 6-2 to Williams; it was time for the crowd to get behind Watson and for Watson to start believing in herself. As errors started to creep into Williams’s game and as Watson’s shaky start began to diminish, comeback started to occur and the belief that Watson could potentially win this second set was more than a likely outcome. Second set: 6-4 to Watson and momentum firmly in her hands. Unbelievably, Watson had two early breaks and was 3-0 up in the third and final set. Yet when you are the best in your sport and you are expected to win, you don’t bow out easily. Williams is not a 20 Grand Slam winner for nothing and as the pendulum swung, she was right back in it at 4-4. The pair were somewhat inseparable at the end of this set and at 5-4 to Watson she needed two points to seal the win of a lifetime. Williams, verbally fighting with all that she had left, broke back and as Hawk-Eye showed that Watson’s ball was out - game, set and match went to the expected pre-match champion. A hard loss to swallow for Watson, but positives to take from it. She’d competed with the best, displayed skill and finesse of the finest and shown mental strength and a performance to be proud of. Her loss here can only catapult her into future sporting greatness and at the age of 23, Watson should be an inspiration to us all. She had the hopes of a nation on her shoulders on the biggest stage in tennis and despite the loss; she’s won the hearts and attention of a nation and shown that if you try hard enough, you can accomplish nearly anything.

Across the pond, another group of women were doing the same. The FIFA Women’s World Cup began in 1991 occurring every four years. England have reached the quarter final stage three times and went into the 2015 tournament as the underdogs of the competition. Once past an impressive group stage, other teams started to notice England, their adaptable line-ups and tactical set-ups that were ensuring the team came out on top. For the first time in FIFA World Cup history, England reached the semi-finals to play Japan – the current World Cup holders. With the tournament being held in Canada, it meant a late night for the English fans, with kick-off at 00:00 BST. The Lionessess wanted a nation behind them, and that is what they got. There was little to distinguish between the two teams and with a penalty at each end during the 90 minutes, every pass, every tackle meant it remained a level playing field. So there I found myself at 1:45am... expecting to stay up into extra-time, until the unthinkable happened. In the 92nd minute, Laura Bassett scored a freak own-goal but there really was no time for the team to come back from that. As the whistle was blown the pitch was a scene of triumph and heartbreak - as sport often is; always made worse when it is England that have had their dreams crushed. They say a photo speaks a thousand words and the pain and cruelty of what had just happened was etched across the face of every English player, most so that of Bassett’s. As her team mates pushed cameras out of the way of her face as she wept into her hands, it was clear to see how close England had come to reaching the World Cup final.

At times like this, social media can be punishing, but within minutes, #proudofBassett was trending on Twitter – it was a costly mistake, but her World Cup performances had been outstanding and that goal wasn’t to over shadow this. The post-match interviews were challenging for every player but the team knew they had one more game to play – the third place play-off. Head coach Mark Sampson said before the game that he wanted England to be the best team in Europe at the end of this World Cup. Easier said than done when standing in their way was a team at the top of the world rankings: Germany. The greatest thing to see was Laura Bassett in the starting XI, throwing her body into tackle after tackle and proving why she'd been one of England's best players of the tournament. She'd put the semi-final heartbreak to the back of her mind and displayed courage of the highest order. As the match went on, there was a feeling that it was going to be one fatigue-ridden mistake that would take either team to victory and as it entered extra-time the realisation of an England vs. Germany penalty shootout was becoming more likely. Then in the 108^th minute, England were awarded a penalty, and as Fara Williams stood up to the spot, the hopes of a team and nation were relying on England’s most capped player. GOAL – inch perfect, bottom corner, England were 1-0 up with just over ten minutes to play; surely this was our time. Full time: England’s first win against Germany in 31 years. A sterling performance, a deserved third place and a 23-strong squad that will return home as heroes.

When England put on their jerseys to play, you can tell they want to win. For themselves, for their team, but most importantly, for their country –and that’s how it should be. The team have become household names, their photos have been strung across every newspaper and their third place win and outstanding tournament should, and will, become a tipping point in English Women’s football. They’ve broken records, inspired a generation and displayed exactly why women deserve a place in sport.

These girls can, will and have given everything in their sports – something that should be admired nationwide. It may be elite sport, but it is the grass roots where sports need to develop and accelerate so that in years to come, performances such as these can repeat themselves. Both of these performances can be a platform for that, women have lead the way and the repercussions can be vast.