Putellas may be the better player, but Mead’s individual heroics deserved recognitionThe images of Alexia Putellas clutching the Ballon d’Or trophy for the second successive year, becoming the first female player to do so since the introduction of the women’s award in 2018, were poignant.Poignant first because Putellas was standing there with the ACL injury that crushed her Euro 2022 dream and will keep her out for much of this season. And poignant also because, although injury meant she was not a signatory of the statement from 15 Spain players that said the national team environment was affecting their emotional state and health, she is the talisman of the team, has expressed support for her teammates and was clutching the...
This rip-roaring spectacle delivered a celebratory atmosphere in a vibrant reprise of England captivating an entire nationUnder an almost full moon, England poured a few more golden rays of sunshine. As homecomings go, this ticked most boxes: a celebratory atmosphere; the national stadium near enough full; the palpable sense of occasion as the tube station funnelled its public down on to Olympic Way. Then there was the rip-roaring spectacle delivered inside and the invigorating sense that, while the Lionesses’ summer heroics were its springboard, there is still no telling exactly where they will land.The answer may be known by 20 August, when the World Cup’s two best teams will square off at Stadium Australia. It is hardly outrageous to suggest...
Danger lies ahead if the game follows the men’s lead and ends up locked in a toxifying money-driven arms race to the topRule number one of English football: when Leah Williamson tells you to do something, you do it. Particularly when she is screaming it at you over the din over 90,000 supporters at Wembley. “We want them to come to WSL games!” she yelled of the 17 million viewers watching the triumphant climax of the Euro 2022 final on the BBC.Happily, the public have taken Williamson’s advice to heart. Something has changed here. On Friday night, Arsenal and Brighton kicked off the new Super League season with a sell-out at Meadow Park. Manchester City have already sold 20,000 tickets...
As chair of the government’s review, the big thing for me is to bring people on this journey. We are all part of this teamA few months ago I received an unexpected call, asking me to lead the government review into women’s football. Despite it being such a great opportunity, it took me some time to say yes. Honestly, I had to think about it. I do not have experience in leading reviews of this nature, so I did my due diligence, spoke to those around me and asked some questions of people in the field.I knew it would be a massive commitment but I came to the conclusion that it would be hypocritical for me to ask for investment...
It is a generation since keepers were told they could not pick up backpasses. Football’s rules can adapt to improve the gameI was watching old football matches on YouTube the other day, and a striker was standing in front of the opposing goalkeeper and waving his arms. The goalkeeper had calmly taken a pass from a teammate on the halfway line and then carried it around for 20 seconds. I know, of course, that this was allowed in the past, but at first I was irritated. The sight was so unfamiliar.Then the goalkeeper kicked the ball back to the front, having used up about a minute. I don’t need to tell you which team were in the lead. The striker...