Clare with the Women’s Euro Trophy

Now that the season is over, I thought I would catch up with Clare at She Can Kick it to see what is happening in the women’s game.

She kindly sent some random thoughts. Much appreciated, Clare.

Women’s football is still a small community so you can virtually “bump” into other members a lot online. This week I found myself part of a (minor) conversation with former England captain Carol Thomas (who very generously told me her story for She Can Kick It) and former Swedish captain Anette Börjesson. Both women captained their countries in the first UEFA-backed Euros final in 1984.

I did slightly embarrass myself with Anette though. I’d shared a post, by Carol, on LinkedIn, about the 1984 final – the very first women’s tournament UEFA put on. Anette commented on it that she was there, but didn’t elaborate.

I thought I recognised her name but ignored my instincts and asked her what it was like to be a spectator at the final? She replied: “well I was watching… and playing as the captain of the Swedish team”.

Cue a red-faced me!

But what a time to be alive: I was speaking to both captains of the very first UEFA-backed Women’s Euros. Captains who played a final in 1984, as I was falling in love with football as a 8/9-year-old. Captains whose posters would have been on my walls if that was a thing back then. Mind blown!

NOW

Arsenal won the Champions League again, beating the mighty Barcelona who didn’t look like they could believe what was happening! What a joy to watch the Gunners perform so well and show all their heart and soul to beat the favourites. Did you watch?

Women’s football has now turned its collective attention to this summer’s Euros and on Thursday Sarina Weigman announced her 23-woman squad.

Goalkeepers: Hannah Hampton, Khiara Keating, Anna Moorhouse

Defenders: Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, Alex Greenwood, Maya Le Tissier, Esme Morgan, Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy

Midfielders: Grace Clinton, Jess Park, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Keira Walsh

Forwards: Michelle Agyemang, Aggie Beever-Jones, Lauren Hemp, Lauren James, Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead, Alessia Russo

13 of these players lifted the trophy 3 years ago, but 7 will be appearing at their first major tournament. I’m sure other teams will think this makes the Lionesses weaker but at least one of these players is going to become a huge star this summer.

There are some big names missing: Mary Earps shocked everyone by retiring from international duty; Fran Kirby retired when she knew she wouldn’t be on the plane to Switzerland; and most concerning, Millie Bright withdrew herself from selection because of mental and physical exhaustion. A brave decision but one I wish she hadn’t had to make. Maybe it will lead to better conversations about looking after players.

Then

Let’s have a quick look back to Euro 2022 when women’s football changed forever. Here are some of the mind-blowing stats:

The final attracted 80,203 spectators to Wembley. This was a record for a Euros final, higher than any other Euros final – men’s or women’s – in history

It was the tournament with the most goals scored by a single team: England scored 22 goals. UEFA have handily bundled them into 1 video for us: https://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/history/video/027a-167063e914fe-76d9f11cb4a4-1000–all-of-england-s-women-s-euro-2022-goals/

England smashed a load of other goalscoring records too: most goals in a group stage (14), most goals in a first half (6 against Norway), biggest win (8-0 against Norway), fewest goals conceded in a group stage (0 – equals Germany’s previous record)

Sarina Weigman was the first coach to win her first 11 Women’s Euros games having guided Netherlands and then England to the trophy. Unbeaten as a coach in the Euros – bonkers!

I don’t think many of these records will be broken in Switzerland (but let’s hope Sarina adds a few more games to her record). The stadiums are mostly small to moderately-sized so crowd numbers won’t improve and England are in a terrifyingly tricky group so don’t expect anything close to an 8-0 win! But do start getting excited. Wouldn’t it be cool if everyone had flags in the window for the women like they do for men’s major tournaments? I’ll be keeping a close eye on Wales too but them being in the same group as England, quite frankly, sucks.

Thanks for being here. Keep footballing.

Clare x

We spoke later and Clare commented on Arsenal’s decision to play ALL their women’s games at The Emirates in 2025/26. She said,” “Fantastic news that Arsenal are continuing to support their women’s team but probably no real surprise since they’ve always been ahead of the curve when it comes to club equality. The Emirates is a great stadium, the women can fill it, and they deserve to play in front of as many people as possible.”

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