After Euro 2022 victory for the Lionesses, Mark Nicholls discusses what it could mean for women’s football in Norfolk and beyond
Within seconds of the final whistle sounding at Wembley on Sunday evening, Three Lions resonated around the national stadium.
Baddiel and Skinner’s anthem, a song of failure and heartbreak in major football tournaments since the 1966 World Cup win, talks of “years of hurt".
But in that moment, as the crowd sang “Football’s Coming Home”, all the hurt and pain of being an England football fan evaporated in sheer joy and elation as the Lionesses were crowned European champions, beating Germany 2-1 in extra-time.
Stark contrast
It was fitting too that the England women’s football team broke that cycle of hurt; appropriate because of the way they play, conduct themselves on and off the pitch, and the way their fans behave.
I was at both Euro finals at Wembley in the last 12 months as a fan – the 2021 men’s team match, with Italy beating England on penalties, and Sunday night’s historic victory.
But the contrast in the occasions could not have been starker, not just in the result, but the whole atmosphere and aura of the events.
The toxicity surrounding the England v Italy men’s final was unforgettable; a disgusting, shameful, low point in English football with violence, a return of hooliganism, and people forcing their way past overwhelmed and unprepared security personnel and into the stadium.
The legendary Wembley Way, from the Wembley Park tube station to the stadium entrance, was a battlefield that day, littered with glass and cans as drunken (often ticketless) fans fought one another and abused and intimidated legitimate ticketholders.
Carnival atmosphere
On Sunday, it was party time, a carnival, family atmosphere both in the build-up to kick-off and inside the stadium as the game went on.
The hard-fought win was well-deserved given the consistently high performance of the Lionesses throughout the tournament.
The team’s efforts were hugely appreciated by fans at the game and across the country who shared in the victory, and also being participants in putting to rest 56 years of hurt (the clock having ticked agonisingly on from Baddiel and Skinner’s ‘30 years of hurt’, penned for the 1996 European championships in the UK).
The match showed how England fans can support their team, which itself has led by example in the way players have engaged with supporters and the media.
It also highlighted how women’s football in general is played, and set the tone for women’s clubs at all levels to follow.
New legacy
The hurt has subsided, the healing begun, so what of the legacy?
After the 2012 Olympics, there was talk of a sporting legacy of increased activity and participation, which arguably has not fully materialised in the way many observers hoped or foresaw.
Women’s football in England will not make the same mistake, I am sure.
And as someone who follows the sport locally, with a number of high-profile women’s teams in Norfolk, I feel confident that this will take female football and women’s sport in general onto a new level.
I believe the drive to the next level for women’s football is already under way as Norfolk teams flourish and climb the national football pyramid. Many have laid good foundations to build on for future development.
Grounds and facilities
There are two Norfolk teams in the FA Women’s National League at tier four; Norwich City, which turned around a poor 2021-22 season to head off relegation and retain their league status, and Wymondham Women, which ran away with the ERWFL Premier League, securing the ERWFL League Cup and Norfolk County Cup along the way in a historic treble.
As a club, Norwich City has integrated the women’s side into the Carrow Road family and while that move should be applauded, many in the women’s game in Norfolk feel that should, and could, have happened several years ago.
Within the ERWFL Premier League, at tier five, Wroxham Women and King’s Lynn are both affiliated with established men’s clubs, and excellent grounds and facilities.
Fresh professionalism
Yet what is also important is the levels of professionalism associated with the teams.
Wroxham, for example, has just unveiled a hugely-experienced management team under manager Joe Simpson to support its women’s side.
And both teams are acutely aware of their media profile, with dedicated social media managers or writers and photographers, promoting their clubs and spreading the women’s game to as wide an audience as possible.
In the tiers below, teams in Thetford, Dussindale and Hellesdon, Fakenham and Mulbarton, and many more, are developing success and profile in equal measure.
True ambassador
While the England victory will bolster and boost this, the influence of Lauren Hemp’s success cannot be understated.
A true ambassador for the sport, she proudly reflected on her football roots with North Walsham in the build-up to the tournament, and also her association with the Norwich City Academy, which lost her services – and that of several other talented local players – when it closed in 2015.
That was a retrograde step, ensuring any advance in Norfolk women’s football was somewhat thwarted.
She takes time to speak to, and remember, those she played with in the past – as seen at Carrow Road in February when England played Spain.
Many of those former teammates continue to play with Norfolk clubs, all proud of her success, with many more inspired by her.
She was always a star in the making and is a female player who thoroughly deserves all the success, accolades and rewards she has achieved with Manchester City and England.
Investment comparison
There are always comparisons between men and women’s sport, particularly when it comes to money.
At the higher levels, such as in professional tennis, we are seeing belated equality, but women’s football still lags way behind the male game in terms of funding and prize money.
Few players are paid, and those that are can only dream of the astronomical salaries of their male counterparts.
But Norfolk FA, a driver in promoting the women’s game, has seen investment in facilities, such as the redevelopment of the FDC at Bowthorpe in Norwich and the new Harrod Sport Arena, which will be home to several teams this season, including Wymondham Women.
The FA has increased prize money for every stage of the 2022-23 women’s FA Cup, and while more will always be called for, it is a step in the right direction.
Encouraging younger girls into the sport has been achieved via the innovative Wildcats programme with teams at various age groups formed.
The future of women’s football in Norfolk is looking bright with several leagues and teams, a spread of age groups, and senior teams for younger players to aspire to, emulate, or sign on for.
Crowd pleasers
But the Euro 2022 spike must not be allowed to be a passing interest – for fans, or the regional media, which together have a critical role in sustaining this new enthusiasm for the women’s game.
If 87,192 can pack Wembley on a Sunday evening at the end of July and create a new crowd record for the European championships, for both men and women, then perhaps we can hope for more than a handful of diehard supporters at local women’s matches.
There have been good examples: 959 people turned up at Carrow Road on May 25 for the County Cup final between Wymondham and Mulbarton, and the local ERWFL Premier League derby at Trafford Park between Wroxham and Wymondham on a squally Wednesday night last October attracted a gate of just over 200.
So good, so good, so good
The interest is there, and the commitment too. But there needs to be funding, and dedication to take women’s football onto that new level.
On Sunday, as the years of hurt were put to bed with the rousing singing of Three Lions, Sweet Caroline followed as England fans and players sang and celebrated.
After the result, the performance throughout the tournament, and the final victory, there was a huge sense of relief and joy.
If there is to be a lasting legacy of increased interest and funding for the women’s game, that would truly be...so good, so good, so good!
- For more details about women's football locally, see norfolkfa.com/players/women.
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