It has been a promising week in women’s and girls football, with the establishment of the Leah Williamson Pitch and the confirmation of full EURO 2025 coverage.
In 2022 the Lionesses became European champions for the first time in front of a sellout crowd at Wembley Stadium and they were determined not to waste their moment in the spotlight.
So two years ago they wrote a letter to the government fighting for young girls in football across the UK.
The letter signed by the 23-player squad was posted on Twitter and today has been liked by over 30,000 people and retweeted by almost 8,000.
In it they urged Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to ensure girls were able access at least two hours of PE a week and have female PE teachers to look up to.
Within a year of the Lionesses’ European victory, research showed an increase in young girls playing football in the UK by 68,000, proving Mary Earps’ point that “You can’t be what you can’t see.”
This push to grow women’s football and provide role models in the women’s game has led to today’s announcement that both the BBC and ITV have agreed to broadcast EURO 2025 so that every game can be accessed in the UK.
The competition, set to be held in Switzerland, will be covered with TV coverage, highlights and radio commentary.
Alongside the announcement of the upcoming coverage of EURO 2025, just yesterday England captain Leah Williamson was honoured by Newport Pagnell Town FC with a pitch named after her.
She joins the likes of Jill Scott, Millie Bright and Lauren Hemp who have also all been honoured in the same way.
The Lionesses’ letter to improve accessibility for sports for young girls seems to finally be coming to fruition.
The £25 million investment from the Government and £5 million from The FA has helped to improve 30 Football Foundation-funded facilities across the country, including Williamson’s hometown pitch.
The increased exposure of the women’s game and growing investment into women and girl’s football really can make the “huge difference” that the Lionesses’ letter suggested.
Featured image courtesy of James Boyes via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. License details found here.