Difference between England in the Euro 2009 final and now is like night and day and success could bring greater equality
No one with the remotest shred of credibility can now dredge up the tired old suggestion that people simply aren’t interested in watching women’s football. Not after Sunday. After all sorts of attendance records tumbled and 87,000 turned up at Wembley to see England crowned European champions we have finally reached the point so many players, coaches and administrators have worked so hard to achieve for so many years.
I was overjoyed on Sunday but I also found the experience of being at Wembley surreal. I played in the 2009 final in Finland when England lost 6-2 against Germany and the difference between then and now is like night and day. Back then my England teammates and I routinely got told to “get back in the kitchen” when we returned from tournaments and, in truth, the 2009 final was so low key it didn’t feel that much different to any other match.
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