OK, I give in. It is indeed “almost” that time of year. ALMOST. It has been a strange month. FC Deportivo Galicia have played on ONE Saturday in the last five but are now undefeated in two games which is a massive improvement from the start of the season, Gillingham have now slipped far from the automatic promotion places and whilst having the best player in League 2 (Dack) have fallen into mid table. The only good news on the football front is that Arsenal are predictably imploding. They are still not mathematically safe from relegation and already their long-suffering supporters are muttering “next season, Europe, saving ourselves for the cups etc.”

Always nice to hear from regular contributors and Darren “You had only one Job” Ashley has been very busy with visits to Brackley in the FA Cup, being featured on and “…delighted to have met one of the biggest names in non league today….which is something Dorking Wanderers boss Marc White didn’t say after I interviewed him a couple of times this afternoon.

Seriously, Marc was great fun, lived up to what i thought he would be, and, he didn’t let me down by dropping in a couple of F-bombs.”

His fame has now spread to Scotland as he humbly told me, “……..you know not a lot has happened sporting wise in the Border TV area when they ask me could they feature the goals I filmed on Saturday for their local evening news segment. It was even their first item, ahead of some rugby and Queen of the South FC.”


As always, his videos are here on YT

Marc White with Darren – which one is the legend?

Meanwhile Clare McEwen of “She Can Kick It” fame sent me her Christmas (oops, mentioned that word!) Newsletter. Very interesting it is too.

“Hey Steve,

How’s it going? Are you ready for the festive period?

I’m ready but haven’t been feeling very Christmassy. Bizarrely, The Sound of Football Podcast has got me feeling as festive as anything else has so far this December – I think it’s the gentle shimmering of bells that’s done it!

Every year they do an advent calendar special episode where they open doors and talk about what’s behind them. This year I was honoured to be asked on to open doors 8 and 9 of the calendar. You can find it here and I open my doors on women’s football between 20-33 minutes.

Have a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays and I’ll see you in the New Year.

Now

It would be rude not to do a little look back on 2025’s football at the end of the year, so here are some Euro 2025 stats to remind us how big women’s football has recently become.

Switzerland’s Euro 2025 had a record-breaking attendance. Over 650,000 fans went to games, despite it being an expensive country.

The average attendance for each match was over 20,000 – the first time that’s happened. And the highest attendance ever for a women’s match in Switzerland was recorded with 34,165 fans watching Germany vs Denmark.

It had the most goals in a women’s Euros tournament with 106 – most of which were England coming back from giving the opposition a head start 😉

England had the record for most different goal scorers, both within a match (6 v Wales) and across the tournament (11 different scorers).

Worldwide, TV and streaming reached 500 million+ global viewers.

Then

The Euro attendance figures were amazing but it’s not the first time women have attracted huge crowds of fans.

On Boxing Day 1920, Everton’s Goodison Park ground hosted a match between Dick, Kerr Ladies and St Helen’s Ladies. The official attendance was around 53,000 and there were reports of 10,000-15,000 more outside the ground who couldn’t get in.

The attendance was comparable to men’s games, which helped lead to The FA banning women from playing. At that point, women’s football was as popular and commercially viable as men’s football.

It’s taken over a 100 years to get close to that again and we’re still a long way off.

The outcome of that match was a 4-0 win to Dick, Kerr Ladies. The attendance success helped lead to their downfall.

Hopefully next year brings more excitement, drama, and progress for women’s sport.

Have a wonderful festive season and I’ll be back in 2026.

Clare x “

What a great last minute Christmas Present ……says the guy who hasn’t bought one yet!

A quick What’s On for anybody in the North West this week – just off the A56

Details from Andrew Bowler

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