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 summer of 2021 will live long in the memory of English football fans as manager Gareth Southgate took England to the very edge of glory, aiming to end 55 years of footballing hurt and rekindle the spirit of previous glory. Whilst ultimately ending in heartbreak for Southgate’s young squad, the feeling generated by his team’s promising performance throughout the summer brought joy to the nation. But, this was not the first time, and won’t be the last, that the country was gripped with Euro’s Fever. 25 years ago, England played host to EURO 96.
