In June 2005, the Football Association (FA) of England hosted the UEFA Women’s European Championships for the first time. The aim of hosting was to spread awareness of women’s football. At this point, the Lionesses were not full-time professionals and had side-jobs accompanying their positions as footballers. It is, therefore, no surprise that they failed to make it out of the group stages after winning just one match against Finland before losing against Denmark and Sweden.
The Lionesses’ opening game against Finland ended in a 3-2 win thanks to 17-year-old Karen Carney’s last-minute winner in front of an impressive crowd of 29,092 at the City of Manchester Stadium (now the Etihad). The match was broadcast on the BBC and thousands of people tuned in. The Lionesses were unexpectedly in the limelight. The popularity of ladies football was gradually increasing, and by the time the Lionesses played their second UEFA game in Blackburn, their bus to the arena was late due to difficulties posed by the huge crowds that gathered for them. Retired Lioness Rachel Yankey made a remark regarding the revolutionary nature of this moment, as never before had women’s football received such a reception in England.
Despite this disappointment, England later reached the final of the 2005 Euros – in which they were beaten by Germany – and the semi-finals of the 2017 Euros. The Lionesses began to acquire an international presence and said growth was supported by the formation of a Women’s Super League. The FA sponsored league gave British female players the chance to be paid for playing for their clubs. With interest in the league constantly growing and pressure from pioneers like Hope Powell, Mo Marley and Kelly Simmons, the FA finally made the WSL a professional division in 2018, ensuring teams provided full-time contracts to their players.
There are many on-pitch parallels between the 2005 and 2022 Women’s Euros (such as Germany being in both finals, and the England team having defenders from Arsenal), yet so much has changed regarding social attitudes surrounding women’s football. Record numbers of fans came to watch the 2022 Women’s Euros games, with millions of people watching via the BBC. The majority of participating nations fielded professional paid footballers, and much in contrast to 2005, football finally came home, with thanks to a now fully paid and professional English side.