Affordable ticket prices are key to giving football fans the live experience which can develop into a lifelong commitmentFootball is bending over backwards to prove its relevance. From 60-minute matches to sin bins and throw-ins taken with feet, Fifa, the game’s governing body, is exploring every option in a bid to attract a newer, younger audience.These ideas are not new. Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez, used the claim of a growing army of disinterested youth to justify the case for the European Super League. The 75-year-old said on the Spanish TV show El Chiringuito that 40% of fans aged between 16 and 24 are not interested in football. “Why? Because there are a lot of low-quality games and they have...
Pioneering reporter was a Wembley witness to both Alf Ramsey’s World Cup winners and a stunning Euro 2022 victoryIt had to be. Surely? Fifty-six years and a day after being at Wembley to see Alf Ramsey’s England beat West Germany to win the men’s World Cup, I walked with my son towards the stadium in a state of nervous anticipation before last Sunday’s Women’s Euro final.As much as I cherish the memory of that historic day in 1966, standing behind the goal into which Geoff Hurst smashed his “they think it’s all over” victory clincher and then roaring like three lions at the final whistle, I felt even more involved and invested this time round as the Lionesses prepared to...
The real challenge is not to identify the next generation of England women footballers – it is to reach the millions of girls who weren’t watching on SundayFew sporting occasions come more inspirational than the England Lionesses’ historic victory at the European Championship. There is again uplifting talk of a legacy, a cultural shift and positive social change that can come from this. But we need to admit that we have had nights like this and talked like this before. Super Saturday at London 2012 springs to mind.There was lofty talk of legacies and inspiring a nation then, too. But as recent reviews of London 2012 have shown, from Tony Blair to UK Sport performance architect Peter Keen to the...
The Euro 2022 triumph means the world to me and all the writers who have witnessed this team’s incredible riseWhen the final whistle went at the end of extra time, I pressed send on my on-the-whistle match report, put my face in my hands and sobbed. Big, loud, heart-rending, back-arching sobs.It was not the first time I had cried around the Lionesses’ stunning, swaggering run to a first major tournament trophy and I have not really stopped since. Continue reading...
The difference between England in the Euro 2009 final and now is like night and day and success could bring greater equalityNo 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...