A festival of women’s football. Record breaking. Incredible.
Those are just some ways to describe last month’s Women’s Euros. Yep, that’s right, the Women’s Euros were the best sporting event of 2022.
You may not have seen much of it, but the tournament will have a legacy that will change women’s football forever, at least in Europe.
Here’s why.
It was probably one of the most talked about Women’s Euros before a ball had even been kicked. There was expectation in two areas before the tournament started: on the host side to do well and even bring home England’s first-ever women’s trophy, and on the Football Association’s shoulders to deliver the biggest and the best Women’s Euros to date.
It certainly looked like it could be, when Manchester United’s Old Trafford, which can seat 74,310 spectators, was announced to host the opening fixture, England versus Austria. However, the most excitement was for the final, which was to be held at the 90,000-seat Wembley.
Context is needed for everything, and context shows how big the tournament really was. At the last Women’s Euros in 2017, the average attendance was 7743. In 2013, it was actually higher, with 8675. At the first Women’s Euros it was 3472, and finally, at the latest, it was 18,544.
That jump in attendances must have some reason behind it. The BBC threw their entire weight behind the tournament, featuring big-name pundits such as Alex Scott and Ian Wright. As mentioned before, the size of the stadiums that the games were played in were unprecedented, and the whole of Europe had their eyes on England, setting the stage of the entire tournament.
The first game broke the attendance record for a Women’s Euros match, with 68,871 fans. Beth Mead’s chip, winning the game 1-0 for England, sent the country rocking, and meant the whole of England was right behind the Lionesses from the start.
Excitement grew as the host nation scored 13 goals in their last two group games to qualify easily, and they were joined in the quarter-finals by England, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands.
There were no major shocks in the quarter-finals but some big statements were made. England came back from behind to beat favourites Spain whilst reigning champions the Netherlands were knocked out by France. The England-Spain match produced a peak TV audience of 7.6 million in England alone, and the quality in not just that game, but the whole tournament, was superb.
The semi-finals continued the drama, with the Lionesses thrashing then-world No.2 Sweden 4-0 and Germany, who have totally dominated the the tournament in years gone by, beating France 2-1. The peak TV audience was bettered in the semi-finals, with 9.3 million people tuning in on BBC One.
The scene was perfectly set for a brilliant final.
(Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
Interest was higher in women’s football that it had arguably ever been and it would be hosted at Wembley, the second-largest football stadium in Europe. It would be the exciting home nation, yet to win a trophy, against the grand masters of women’s European football.
87,192 spectators were there, the highest attendance for a UEFA game ever, men’s or women’s.
England opened the scoring, after a gritty first half, with another chip, this time courtesy of Ella Toone. The Germans were not down and out, equalising 17 minutes later, the second goal England would concede.
When the game went to extra-time, many English minds were surely on penalties, and the fact that they were playing Germany.
The final would not follow the traditional storyline, with Chloe Kelly scoring in a goalmouth scramble. Football had come home. England had won the euros.
I believe the impact of the Women’s Euros will be felt for years to come. Girls across the continent wanting to get into the sport have role models to follow and women’s football coverage continues to grow.
Women’s Super League clubs reported a surge of ticket sales after England’s win, and hopefully, it will lead to women’s football going from strength to strength.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
And my best friend is Norwegian…. On his way back here from visiting right now. It does mean I get fed a fair bit of imfo,from,your neighbours!
Simoc
Roar Rookie
The tournament was great. Pity Oz isn't part of Europe. You need to do the articles Josh. No-one else will. I like the womans game but unfortunately as the money goes into Europe our local ranking goes down. It doesn't have to. We have the worst media critics who want to sack the coach after every game, but Englands coach has a fairy tale record. Apparently she talks to everyone and they all know exactly what she wants. Could be a good template for success.
Joshua Makepeace
Roar Rookie
I did think of Norway as a nation where the women's team is higher ranked than the men's but just thought the gap was too small to mention them or maybe it was just me not wanting to give credit to the neighbours (I'm Swedish).
chris
Guest
So true. On the flip side to that, the women tend to try and play on even after a definite foul. Especially in the box! Referees will tend to not give a freekick if the player keeps playing on.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Good article & I agree, thoroughly enjoyed the tournament, a great example of the growth & potential of the women's game. My daughter was in England & not a big fan of sport was wrapped up by the atmosphere in England. I really enjoyed the quality of play as well.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Run away.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Exactly Norway & Sweden have always had strong women's teams in the past. However shows how much the likes of England & Spain has moved forward with England beating Norway 8-0 in the Euros.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
JM- two exceptions. West of Sweden lies Norway and they have been one of the leading nations supporting women’s football for quite sometime and enjoyed a fair bit of success although right now they appear to have been overtaken. However, I’m pretty sure that like their neighbours, they would rank higher than their international men’s team.
David Shilovsky
Expert
Domestic football articles generally do a lot better here than the European stuff. That's not to say it always be that way.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
It might be an unfortunate fact that our hosting of the WWC has coincided with the rise of a few European powers in womens football.
Joshua Makepeace
Roar Rookie
I think there is one exception to European countries practically ignoring women's football until recently and that's Sweden. The European football powerhouses in women's football are pretty much the same as in the men's: England, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands. However, Sweden are always in the mix to do very well in women's international tournaments, they were ranked second in the world before the euros. Swedes support the women's team as much as the men's and I can't think of another European country where the women's team are by far higher ranked than the men's. Probably because of the high funding that was given to them in comparison to other European nations' women's teams.
Kanggas2
Roar Rookie
Lots of good podcasts during the tournament.
Kanggas2
Roar Rookie
Great tournament and an epic final. I can’t see the current Matildas getting near England or Spain next year.
Joshua Makepeace
Roar Rookie
Very much appreciated, thank you.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the article. I watched many games and was thoroughly entertained. One noticeable difference between the women and men is how little rolling around, play acting on the pitch occurs in the women’s game. It’s like, yeah I’ve had a collision but let’s not milk it but just get on the with the game. Refreshing.
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
Enjoyed the article Joshua. Hard to believe that some of these European nations like England, Spain, and Italy put zero resources and funds into the women’s game but have now realised there is a market to tap into with more and more girls taking up the sport, due to successful tournaments such as this one. Example is Italy looking like one of the dark horses at the last World Cup, but since then other nations have pumped in more money to the structure of the women’s game which has seen Italy fall behind which was evident from their poor Euro campaign.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I was chatting to people in the uk during the tournament and definitely felt the growing excitement. The football was pretty good. We all have a tendency to make comparisons as it is difficult not to and there are some that won’t engage or just say “it isn’t EPL” but they say that about the A League too. What I took from the tournament and mainly the highlights packages plus talking to family and friends was that the s]way the game was played and is played in the women’s game is far more enjoyable than the mens. Less arguing with match officials, less simulation and bags of empathy for injuries and accidentally hurting opponents - all that kind of stuff that has almost disappeared from the mens game. I have commented a few times on here that the traditional powerhouses of the game -the countries that embraced women’s football some time ago are fast being caught or overtaken by European countries that previously paid little regard to female football. It bodes well,for the World Cup. We might even see different types of football fans at the games. We have stopped going to Socceroos games in recent years after witnessing an awful lot of boorish behaviour at a few games. I can’t see that being r elevated at Matilda’s games - And I don’t wish to be proved wrong.
Danno
Roar Rookie
Great article Joshua , enjoyed the read , it has opened up my eyes to woman’s football a lot more , thanks
matth
Roar Guru
Given I’ve had articles that topped out at four comments up to 250, it’s best not to worry. Remember many who read don’t comment. Plus you should link the article to your Facebook. That does help.
max power
Guest
nope