England will play in the Opening Match of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021 at Old Trafford (Pic: The FA)

Old Trafford, the 74,879-capacity Theatre of Dreams, will host the Lionesses’ Opening Match of the UEFA Women’s Euro on Wednesday 7th July 2021. The FA hope that the 13th edition of the tournament will kick-off with a record attendance which will set a benchmark for the rest of the tournament played across eight other venues in England culminating with the final at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium on Sunday 1st August.

The United States played Canada at Old Trafford during the 2012 Olympics (Pic: Paul Ellis, AFP Getty)

The 110-year-old home of Manchester United, Old Trafford last staged a women’s football match in 2012, when the United States defeated Canada 4-3 in a dramatic Olympic semi-final in front of 26,630 fans. Former Manchester United player Phil Neville will lead his country out at the stadium where he played for 11 seasons. “It doesn’t get much bigger than managing your country at a home Euro and to have the opportunity to do so at a stadium that holds so many memories for me is huge. Old Trafford has a special place in my heart, but it is also one of the country’s most iconic football grounds, so today’s announcement is a significant one for the tournament”.

2The Lionesses’ manager Phil Neville played for 11 seasons at Old Trafford (Pic: The FA)Natalie Burrell, founder of Manchester United Women’s supporters group, Barmy Army, is confident that the demand for women’s football from fans living in the city will fill the stadium. “Every time I go to Old Trafford, people are saying to me, ‘I see what you’re doing with the girls, when is it coming here?’ People are waiting for it”.

As well as Manchester and Wembley, matches will also be played at Brentford, Brighton, Milton Keynes, Rotherham, Sheffield, Southampton and Wigan & Leigh. The FA’s Director of Women’s Football, Baroness Sue Campbell declared “we’d like to welcome fans from all over Europe, we hope they will come. We’d like to work with our European colleagues to help develop the women’s game across Europe”.

Hoping to build on the huge television viewing figures generated during last summer’s Women’s World Cup and this season’s burgeoning WSL attendances, she added that “we want to excite everyone in this country to come out and watch the women’s game, even if they’ve never watched before. Euro 2021 is an opportunity. We want to raise the bar yet again for the women’s game in England. More fans watching, more women playing, more women coaching, more women refereeing, and an outstanding Women’s Super League, to make it the best league in Europe”.

The record attendance for a Women’s Euro match was set in Solna, Sweden when 41,301 people watched Germany defeat Norway in the 2013 Final. Now UEFA’s Head of Women’s Football, Nadine Kessler was a member of that German side and describes it as the highlight of her career. “I think it makes all the difference to give players and teams the stage they deserve. I think it is a completely different experience, a different pressure you have to handle but also a different excitement and motivation”.

A record 41,301 fans watch the Final at UEFA Women’s Euro 2013 in Solna (Pic: Asif Burhan)

In December 2018, Kessler helped negotiate the deal which saw Visa become UEFA’s first exclusive sponsor of women’s football. They have since been joined by Nike, who will supply the official match ball for the tournament and Espirit, who will design the uniforms for tournament staff and volunteers. Kessler believes more big-name sponsors will follow, “it was a very important step we took. There are more sponsors on board. Every cent UEFA will gain from partners will go back into the game. It’s very important to show that women’s football has its own value and partners, and that the media and everybody is interested in the women’s game on its own. It will most certainly be our strategy to further enhance this”.

The tournament’s Head of Delivery, Chris Bryant, who previously worked in the same capacity on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as the 2015 Rugby World Cup, was realistic about the goals the tournament should be looking to achieve. “We should be doing everything we can to seize on the opportunity that we’ve got in hosting what is an elite football tournament. It’s a phenomenal time for women’s football in general. The UK has a fantastic tradition of delivering major events. We’ve got a very high-skilled team working on the men’s Euro who will role straight over to deliver the women’s Euros”.

The eight cities chosen in December to host the tournament do not include any in the south-west or north-east of the country. “Whilst we are not everywhere, we are relatively comfortable that we are in a good enough spread of venues across the country”, said Bryant. “We will of course engage with the wider country through our marketing campaign. We know people will travel for big events, we know people will travel to go and watch England. That’s very much part of our plan as well”.

In 2017, each of the seven host cities in the Netherlands set up city-centre fan zones where 72,916 fans congregated to watch matches on big screens. Bryant is open to the idea but remains unsure if the demand is there. “Our first priority is to try and sell as many tickets and get people in the stadium if possible. For Euro 2020 in London we’re setting up additional screenings because there’s only 90,000 seats and the ticket demand for England games in the men’s Euro is phenomenal. That’s not quite the same for the women’s Euros. If there is demand in host cities, we’d love to talk to them about fan zones. We need to be quite realistic about the budgets that the cities have and where our priorities are. Absolutely we are talking to host cities about, be it a fan march, a meeting point, a fan zone, a screening, they’re all on the table but we need to be quite realistic about what will be delivered and where our focus should be and that’s driving attendance to stadia to give the teams that full stadium experience”.

Dutch fans in the Enschede fan-zone ahead of the 2017 Final (Pic: Asif Burhan)

A common inducement during previous tournaments, free city-centre transport for supporters will not be offered to ticket-holders as Bryant explained, “hosting the event already puts a significant strain on host cities in order to provide security and transport infrastructure. What we will do is focus on those cities where potentially you might need a transport solution that doesn’t already exist. We will work with the local councils to potentially put on shuttle buses to try and move fans from the city centre to the venue. We’re not going to do what the men’s Euros did and offer free public transport with every ticket. It’s incredible costly and it’s incredibly difficult to deliver and we believe our priorities and focus are best elsewhere”.

Burrell, who travels from Didsbury to another of the Euro 2021 venues, the Leigh Sports Village, to watch Manchester United hopes that one tournament legacy will be to improve infrastructure around the LSV Stadium. “You’ll see better transport links then, which hopefully then we can take advantage of. It’s got great facilities. I’d encourage people to go to Leigh”.

Over 700,000 tickets will be made available for the tournament compared to the record 240,045 tickets sold at Euro 2017. “That’s a huge jump in the available number of tickets that we want to sell” admits Bryant. “Across the board, we want to try and sell as many tickets as possible. We’ll look at doing that through accessible tickets, but also through working with local communities to ensure that schools and universities have the opportunities to come to the games as well”.

Wembley Stadium will host the men’s and women’s Euro finals in consecutive years (Pic: The FA)

How The FA will generate interest in games not involving England remains to be seen as Bryant explains, “we know that some games are going to be more attractive than others, therefore how do we manage that balance across the country to try and give all of the teams the same experience of having full stadiums? That certainly has been a challenge. We bid before the World Cup in France and that certainly changed how people viewed the tournament, and maybe how we viewed the tournament with some of our venue selections. Really it was that led to our inclusion of Old Trafford as the opening venue. We sensed there was an opportunity here maybe to try and open the tournament with a special bang. I think it’s really exciting”.

“This is elite sport. This is a big major event, a once in a lifetime opportunity to attend a football tournament in your own country. It’s a rare occasion and therefore people should embrace that, people should embrace those games in their host cities and everyone should try and be a part of it. A big part of our marketing campaign is to not just look at football fans but “big eventers”, people that want to be part of something special which we believe this tournament can be“.

“We want it to be remembered as a tournament, a major event, that gripped the country, that everyone felt part of, that everyone was reminiscing about, a fantastic summer in which everyone had a great time going to the tournament”.

To register for tickets, competitions and volunteering opportunities visit TheFA.com/WEuro2021

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“Tierna was injured and she did not practice or train with the team throughout the camp so it was hard to have to evaluate her. By all indications, she will not be able to play a 90-minute game until the middle of February, that’s the main reason why she is not on this roster” explained Andonovski.

On Pugh, he said, “Mal was competitive and she did well but there were other players that I believed performed better than Mal. I want to be clear, she is a very talented player. She has a big future in front of her so I’m pretty sure if she keeps on developing, going forward, she will be on this roster”.

“For Mal, consistency is crucial to be on this roster, she needs to be consistent from day to day, which is extremely hard. In fact, just because of her potential and how good she can be, I invited Mal to come and train with us even though she is not on the roster. As coaching staff we want to be able to be there for her and we want to provide the best opportunity for her to develop”.

The 20 players selected by Vlatko Andonovski (Picture: US Soccer)

“With Allie Long and Morgan Brian, the thing it came down to was the structure of the roster. If you look at it, we had six defenders, five midfielders and six forwards so the opportunity for midfield was a little bit less. I had a great conversation with both of them. The bottom line is there’s certain things that I feel that they can do better. Definitely, the opportunity is still there for them. They’re both great players. Now it’s on them, their club environment and ourselves to help them reach their best”.

Leaving out Long who played for him at Reign FC was particular hard. “She played for me for two years and I consider her a friend and it was extremely difficult. What I believe, like I said earlier, it was the right thing to do. I also believe that Allie does have quality to be a world-class player. She proved that especially in 2018, when she came to Seattle. I think that she was one of the best midfielders in the league”.

For the other World Cup winner not included, Alex Morgan, Andonovski offered words of encouragement. “She’s an incredible player and we would love to have Alex at her best back on the team. At this point, we don’t have to talk much about it because we first want to wish Alex the best in her pregnancy and delivering a healthy baby. Once the time comes, we’ll focus a little bit more on it and see what the time-line looks like for Alex and the team”.

Elsewhere 37-year-old Carli Lloyd was included in her fourth Olympic cycle. “Her mentality in training was absolutely incredible. A true example of what a pro competing for a national team spot should look like. She was first on the field, last off the field and she performed at her best in every single second she spent on the field”.

The past week has seen Megan Rapinoe, already the winner of 2019 The Best FIFA award and Ballon D’Or nominated for the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year. However Andonovski said she has lost none of her focus, “She is the best player in the world and at her best she is extremely valuable for the team. She came into camp, ready to perform, mentally refreshed and ready to play. I would say, she did not train all the time because she had a couple of injuries she had to take care off. Overall, I think that her performances in camp has shown she is very valuable for the team”.

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David Goldblatt, Futebol Nation

It happened at 3-0. When Toni Kroos rolled the ball into the Brazilian net for a third time in 24 jaw-dropping minutes of World Cup football. Vanessa, the beautiful girl sat next to me burst into tears. Not the fake fingernail into mascara gloop you see every week on a reality show. It was a spontaneous well of emotion – all hope lost, the realisation of a dream shattered.

Brazilian fans voice their frustration as their team goes 0-5 down in the first half (Picture: Asif Burhan)

If I remember nothing else from this World Cup, I will remember that. Anyone who is truly passionate about this stupid game, will have cried those tears because everyone loses more than they win. The World Cup is the greatest event that humankind has ever produced precisely because it takes hopes of victory and produces a river of tears, a mountain of broken hearts. 31 losers and one winner. Until the next time, when that winner will inevitably lose as well.

But Brazil? Brazil have lost many times. On penalties, in acrimony, due to individual mistakes, but never like this. Humiliated and in their own country. I could reel off the records set last night in the Estádio Mineirão, but it would be trite. Suffice to say, the World Cup in 84 years, has not seen a result like it. Nothing to compare to the Mineirazo.

Host nation Brazil went into the semi-final without their star striker Neymar (Picture: Asif Burhan)

At half-time, I apologised to Vanessa. I’m not sure why but I’m English and that’s what we do. Together with her husband they had travelled around the country watching many games. She was complimentary about the English in Manaus who she said “never stopped singing”. They had tickets to the final but were now not sure if they’d go. She was worried what such a defeat might mean in her country. The crowd had already turned their anger towards Dilma Rousseff. The President had not deigned to appear at any of the games since being booed at the Opening Match, now she would be handing the trophy over at the Final to a team that wasn’t her own.

Later, Vanessa came to my rescue as three Brazilians in front of us mocked their team by singing German songs throughout the second half antagonising the Brazilians behind us who, led by a young girl, charged at them. A beer was spilt over me and stewards piled in. A cameraman and the military police appeared. Instead of throwing out the troublemakers, the stewards only created a barricade. I didn’t even see the seventh German goal.

Those who say they’d rather lose a tight 1-0 are mistaken. Of all the ways to lose, Mexico’s defeat to Netherlands was for my money the worst way to lose, defeat snatched from the hands of victory. A final score of 7-1 leaves no room for doubt. At the end there was the extraordinary sight of Brazilians cheering the final German goal and joining in with the chants of “Super Deutschland”.

Miroslav Klose’s 16th World Cup finals goal made him the all-time record goalscorer in the competition (Picture: Asif Burhan)

Afterwards, like me, many Brazilians went into the German section to join in their celebrations. Girls danced to songs they had no idea the meaning of, photos were taken, hands were shaken, everlasting moments shared. Football fans are not stupid egomaniacs, every team has a limit and the Brazilians knew they had reached theirs. Beaten by a better side.

As I walked back to the bus station, inevitably getting lost on the dimly-lit back streets, I saw that even in Brazil, the world kept turning. People hung out of bars solemn and sharing black humour. The episcopal church was having a late-night service and the streets were strewn with homeless people trying to sleep amidst the din.

Brazil is still the same country it was a month ago. It has had some memorable nights to look back on but it will wake up today to all the same qualities and problems it has always had. Belo Horizonte was overloaded with military police hours before the match, who’s fully-armoured officers barricaded government buildings and stopped and searched local youths in full view of the watching public. It seemed overbearing and unnecessary.

In contrast, around the stadium, the mood was joyous beforehand. Brazilians danced and frolicked in the sunshine. Their new Maradona “coke-sniffer” song once again to the fore. A blow-up sex doll of Lionel Messi was tossed around. A man skilfully painted head to toe in green, provoked chants of “ulk-ee, ulk-ee” everywhere he went.

Now all that joy which travelled south from Fortaleza is lost forever based on the outcome of one game of football. How sad. Yet, as a country moves on, it will never forget the moment all that expectation evaporated. It was the moment Vanessa Arnez Floris cried for a nation.

South Africa’s desire to bring a first Women’s World Cup to the African continent ended when they confirmed they would not be progressing with their bid. Meanwhile, the chances of a World Cup Down Under were strengthened as two separate bidding nations, Australia (AFC) and New Zealand (Oceania), joined forces to submit the first-ever co-confederation attempt to host a major football tournament.

With the unified backing of both countries’ governments, the two Antipodean countries, who also combined to host the 1987 Rugby World Cup, “promises to amplify women’s football in Asia and Oceania like never before as the two culturally and geographically aligned nations work ‘As One’ to deliver a truly inspired celebration of women’s football”. Both nations had initially vowed to bid alone but now view a collaboration as “a logical and compelling response to the expanded 32-nation format that will be introduced in 2023″.

Australian Federal Minister for Youth and Sport, Richard Colbeck said, “our bid for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 strongly aligns with the Australian Government’s commitment to inspire more girls and women to participate in sport and increase their physical activity for better health and well-being,”

New Zealand Minister for Sport and Recreation, Grant Robertson added, “New Zealand and Australia are both countries that champion and celebrate women’s sport, and it has been no surprise to see the football community, stadia, host cities and states across our two countries embrace this bid”.

FFA Chairman Chris Nikou and New Zealand Football President Johanna Wood at the launch of the #AsOne 2023 Women’s World Cup bid (Picture: www.asone2023.com)

New Chelsea signing, Australia’s Sam Kerr admitted that “hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia would be a dream come true for me. There is so much untapped potential, not just in Australia but right across Asia and the Pacific region. I really do believe we would offer something incredibly special to FIFA”. New Zealand striker Rosie White currently playing for Reign FC added, “if New Zealand and Australia were to host a World Cup it would change football in our region forever”.

As part of their bid, the two countries are promising to stage the tournament across 13 stadiums in 12 cities and attract a record attendance of 1.5 million over the 64 matches. The final would be played at the 75,000-capacity ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Last summer’s tournament in France drew 1,131 million fans to watch 52 matches.

Considering the remoteness of the two countries in relation to the rest of the world, they are also committing to “scheduling kick off times to maximise broadcast exposure” and “a commitment to equitable team travel” across the two countries.

In contrast, Japan, who will host the 2020 Olympic football tournament across seven venues in six cities are offering a smaller-scale World Cup using eight stadiums – Kobe, Kyoto, Saitama, Sapporo, Sendai, Suita, Tokyo and the Toyota Stadium – 32 training bases and 42 referee camps. “FIFA requested a tournament with eight venues, and adding one more would increase costs significantly”, admitted JFA President Kozo Tashima. “We’re a small country and can take advantage of our transit system, including the bullet train and air routes. With eight stadiums we can run a smooth tournament and keep our costs down”.

“Between next year’s Olympics, the professionalisation of the women’s league from 2021 and this Women’s World Cup, we want to give a significant boost to women’s soccer and that is why this bid is so important.”

Japan Football Association President, Kozo Tashima (Picture: www.japan2023bid.com)

“With Japan’s proven ability to host international tournaments and our spirit of omotenashi (hospitality), we want to put on a Women’s World Cup that will bring joy not only to participating nations but to us as hosts.”

Japan are also proposing that the tournament start earlier than the dates reserved for the tournament in the FIFA Women’s International Match calendar between 10 July and 23 August 2023. As Tashima explained, “it’s not good to ask players to rest for two months and then play a World Cup in July. With most of the world’s top players in European leagues, we think that holding the tournament in June will help players stay in peak condition.”

Earlier this week, South Africa pulled out of the race having been one of the first to declare an interest even before their national team Banyana Banyana qualified for it’s first World Cup last year. “We resolved that as an association we should not proceed with the bid”, said SAFA’s acting Chief Executive Officer Hay Mokoena.

“We want to strengthen our women’s national league first before we invite the world to come and play. Definitely, we will consider doing 2027 and we think by that time, we will have a stronger women’s league and a much stronger women’s national team”.

South Korea have also withdrawn their bid to host the tournament due to concerns that they may violate their own national law by complying with new FIFA rules for the World Cup Local Organising Committee.  “In addition, FIFA raised the bar for overall facility requirements to the same level as the men’s World Cup . Given the uncertain economic effects of the event, it was difficult for local governments to accept FIFA‘s requests for enhanced facility standards and subsequent guarantees”.

The 32 board members of the FIFA Council will vote in June 2020 on who will host the ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup. Brazil, and Colombia are also bidding to stage the first 32-team tournament.

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Following a request from the Russian Federation addressed to the UEFA Competition Committee and to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, the match between the two teams has been “indefinitely postponed” with no date set for the match to take place. Kosovo are due to play the return match in Russia on the 9th June.

According to the Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK), “Kosovo was ready to play and did not have anything against it but the refusal came from the Russian Federation since they were afraid of the hooliganism from Serbian or Russian fans. For many years, we as a Federation did not face any issue of hooliganism so we did not encounter any risk in this regard”.

The Kosovo team which defeated Turkey in Pristina last month (Picture courtesy of the Football Federation of Kosovo)

An official confirmation for postponement came from UEFA’s Deputy General Secretary, Giorgio Marchetti in a statement which said, “with regards to the match in question, upon the receipt of a letter dated 21 September 2019 from the Russian Football Union (RFU), UEFA has further assessed the security risk profile of the match. A meeting was held in Pristina with the presence of our Head of Safety and Security Operations, Kenny Scott on 24 September”.

“There are currently insufficient elements to assess the potential threat posed by Serbian and Russian ultra-groups who might try to exploit the match to cause disruption. Furthermore, the match is scheduled two days before political elections in Kosovo, which circumstance may encourage the use of the match for political escalation”.

“For the above reasons, the match is postponed. Further assessment of the security situation will be made in the coming days and a new decision on the match will be made, in consultation with the two teams”.

UEFA confirmed to me that, “the UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 qualification phase match between Kosovo and Russia was postponed for security considerations ahead of the upcoming elections in the country”.

“The situation will be thoroughly assessed over the coming days, and a decision regarding the match will be made in consultation with both teams”.

A statement on the Russian Football Union (RFU) website said UEFA informed them the match had been postponed due to “security reasons”.

Kosovo were only admitted into UEFA competitions in May 2016 following a Congress vote which went in their favour by 28 to 24 votes in spite of strong opposition from neighbours Serbia. Kosovo had declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Their women’s team played their first match in March 2017 and took part in FIFA World Cup qualification for the first time later that year. Russia, the only Eastern European nation to qualify for the last UEFA Women’s Euro in 2017 have won both their opening two matches and sit joint-top of qualifying Group A with reigning European champions, the Netherlands. Only the top team in each group is guaranteed in the 2021 finals to be held in England.

The Russian Women’s team can now concentrate on facing the European champions, the Netherlands (Picture courtesy of the Russian Football Union)

Russian coach Elena Fomina can now turn her attentions to their next match away to the Netherlands in Eindhoven on Tuesday. She said, “on the one hand, we would prefer to play with Kosovo now, on the other hand, there will be a bit more time for preparation”.

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Four and a half years have passed since Lyon were last eliminated from the tournament but ahead of their semi-final first leg against them at the Groupama Stadium, venue of this summer’s World Cup final, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes would not be losing any sleep over the prospect.

“No, I’m more afraid that I’m not going to get enough sleep because my ten-month-old baby is with me tonight!”

With Arsenal and Manchester City already certain of finishing in the top two positions in the FA WSL, winning the Champions League this season is Chelsea’s only route into next season’s competition as well as offering last year’s double winners their only remaining hope of silverware following last week’s FA Cup semi-final defeat away to City.

For Hayes however the tie will hold no fears.

“We don’t take part in this sport because of fear. These are the games we want. I respect them. They are the best team in Europe. They have demonstrated that over many years. We are at a level now where we can get into a position where we can fight to get into the final. We are not the favourites. We are not expected to go through. There’s no pressure on my team. . . but we want this game”.

Having been eliminated in each of the last three seasons by the same team, VfL Wolfsburg, Chelsea will now face the German side’s conquerors hoping to go one stage further than last season’s semi-final and thus becoming the first English team to reach the final since Arsenal in 2007. To do that Hayes is prepared to win by any means against a team with a far greater depth of resources than her own.

“We need a bit of luck, but you make that. To make that, you need the experiences I believe. We’re talking about a team whose budget is significantly bigger than any other team in Europe. They have won the French championship for twelve years in a row. This is a team that doesn’t face much competition so I’m not going to pretend that we’re going to do it in a pretty way. If we are to progress to the final, we have to have to hang in there. If you get the organisation right and you keep the spirit high and we’re fresh then we have enough quality to cause them problems too”.

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Not since the fabled English works team Dick, Kerr Ladies attracted an estimated 53,000 spectators to Goodison Park for a Boxing Day match with St. Helens, has such a crowd been drawn to a women’s domestic club match in Europe.

All 64,000 advance tickets have been allocated for the match in Madrid. Of those, over 27,000 tickets have been purchased with the rest claimed by almost 30% of Atlético’s 127,471 socios.

The official European club record of 50,212 at the 2012 UEFA Champions League final in Munich’s Olympiastadion is set to be broken and the world record figure of 51,211 witnessing the Liga MX Femenil Clausura Final between Monterrey and Tigres UANL in May could also be surpassed.

Atlético played FC Barcelona in front of 3,800 four weeks ago, but could set a world record attendance this Sunday.
Picture Alberto Molina

In January, Athletic Bilbao attracted another huge attendance of 48,121 for their Copa de la Reina match against Atlético at San Mamés and last May, the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Arsenal was witnessed by 45,423 fans, a third record crowd in succession since the English showpiece was moved to Wembley.

Yet this figure is more than ten times the largest attendance for a FA WSL match, set when 4,096 watched Manchester City host Chelsea in 2016 and since the move back to a winter season, English league crowds show no sign of reaching five figures in the foreseeable future.

When Chelsea moved their Champions League match against VfL Wolfsburg to Stamford Bridge in 2016, they attracted only 3,783 fans, a mere 454 more than they did the following season against the same opposition at a sold-out Kingsmeadow.

Only four weeks ago, Atlético hosted Barcelona in the Copa de la Reina at their Estadio Cerro del Espino in front of 3,800 rojiblanco fans. The decision to move tomorrow’s La Liga match from the club’s training complex to their main stadium has led to a fifteen-fold increase in attendance. So where is Spain succeeding where WSL clubs continue to fall short?

As Alvaro Pascual, from Atlético’s Department of Communication and Marketing explained:

“Since the tickets went on sale on February 18, the club has made its best efforts to promote the match in the best way possible.

“We’ve published videos of players from our men’s first team encouraging the fans to attend the match at the Metropolitano and the players from our women’s team have carried out several autograph sessions at the club’s official stores and during tours of the stadium in order to promote the game”.

Atlético Femenino players have been meeting fans to generate interest in their La Liga match at the Metropolitano Picture – @AtletiFemenino

Atlético captain, Amanda Sampedro added:

“I hope Sunday is a party for everyone and, above all, the three points remain in the Wanda”.

Women’s international football is no stranger to large crowds. A world record 90,185 saw the United States beat China in the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final in Pasadena and an Olympic record 80,203 were at Wembley when the US defeated Japan to win the Gold Medal Match in 2012.

Over 600,000 tickets have been sold so far for the Women’s World Cup with the final and both semi-finals at Lyon’s 59,186-capacity Parc OL sold out.

Largest women’s football attendances

90,185  United States (5)0-0(4) China     Rose Bowl, Pasadena                                       10/07/1999

80,203  United States 2-1 Japan               Wembley Stadium, London                            09/08/2012

78,792  United States 3-0 Denmark        Giants Stadium, East Rutherford                   19/06/1999

76,489   United States 2-1 China              Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia                01/08/1996

73,680   Germany 2-1 Canada                  Olympiastadion, Berlin                                   26/06/2011

Largest women’s club football attendances

53,000  Dick, Kerr Ladies FC 4-0 St. Helen’s FC        Goodison Park, Liverpool             26/12/1920

51,211  Monterrey 2-2 Tigres UANL                         Estadio BBVA, Monterrey              05/05/2018

50,212  FFC Frankfurt 0-2 Olympique Lyonnais      Olympiastadion, Munich              17/05/2012

48,212  Athletic Club 0-2 Atlético de Madrid           San Mamés, Bilbao                         30/01/2019

45,423  Arsenal FC 1-3 Chelsea FC                             Wembley Stadium, London          05/05/2018

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“I didn’t like who I was as a footballer, looking back, I didn’t like what I was. Now, it’s a lot easier to be who I want to be and who I am because I’m not a performing dog anymore. I don’t have to be what I needed to be then. What I needed to be then was the best I possibly could be to the detriment of most of the other stuff in my life. Now I don’t have to do that, it’s a far easier life and I’m far happier.”

The most decorated footballer in the history of Everton Football Club, the last goalkeeper to be voted Football Writers’ Player of the Year, the winner of two league titles, two FA Cups and a European Cup Winners’ Cup venerated as the best of his generation and a living legend in his lifetime, Neville Southall is now far more famous for standing up for people without a voice in mainstream society than for standing up to attackers bearing down on his goal.

Asif Burhan spoke to former Everton and Wales goalkeeper, Neville Southall about his work promoting LGBT rights.
Picture: Asif Burhan

Southall’s commitment to his various charities and causes often extend to him surrendering his social media account to organisations that lack his mass following, allowing them a chance to further their work and crush widely-held misconceptions. Helplines for workers in the sex industry, drug users, those coping with suicide bereavement and this week, victims of sexual violence have all been given a forum of over 146,000 people on Southall’s Twitter account. So what made this former international goalkeeper such a crusader for marginalised groups?

“When I played for Wales we went to some of the poorest countries in the world, I went to Romania when Ceausescu was there, the old Yugoslavia when Tito was there, you can see the poverty. When people try and nick your brown sauce and your red sauce off your table because they have nothing then you realise how bad it is. Since leaving football, I’ve always worked with disadvantaged kids and that’s the main reason for it really”.

So why speak out now, 17 years after he finished playing and a decade after his last involvement in the game?

“As a footballer you have to be really self-centred, have a massive ego and just worry after yourself. Once you go into that profession, you are judged every day and every week. At the time you just put your head down and do what you can do. What I probably should have done was have a better work-life balance, but I didn’t because I wanted to be something that I wanted to be, which was to be the best I possibly could”.

It is that reputation, forged over three decades on the football field, which means that Southall is listened to. He is at Wembley as a patron of the LGBT group Just A Ball Game at their first-ever seminar called Stronger Together, the culmination of a lifetime’s work from their founder Lindsay England, a tireless campaigner for equality in all fields. In England, Southall has met a kindred spirit.

“I met Lindsay through Twitter, what I like about Lindsay is she just grafts and grafts and grafts. She doesn’t get much funding. She’s always looking for new funding, always keen to promote it. I think when you’ve got people like Lindsay, LGBT people have got a chance at succeeding in football”.

Neville Southall speaking at Just a Ball Game’s Seminar “Stronger Together” at Wembley Stadium.
Picture: Asif Burhan

Southall’s passion for LGBT issues derive from when a boy he was teaching in Ebbw Vale came out.

“In the process, you think, “how am I ever going to be able to speak to this kid?” What do I actually know about LGBT stuff? Nothing. I didn’t think I knew anyone who was gay at that time, but I must have, and I must have played with someone who was gay, by sheer averages. I contacted a few people on Twitter and they’ve been brilliant. They gave me good advice”.

“What I didn’t realise until I finished football is the impact that your words can have on people. Your words do have an effect and I think sometimes you have got to sit back and realise what words can mean. I think that one of the things is if you use the “N” word (in football), you get sent off; if you call someone a “queer” you don’t get sent off. I think that’s wrong, I think that should be addressed. Why is one different from the other? Both two words are the same”.

“It seems to me that sometimes the FAs want to tick off stuff, you can’t just tick boxes. Tell me an FA Cup Final or one of the other finals when you have ever anything with LGBT around it? There are our show-pieces and yet we don’t do anything. When you have “Rainbow Laces Day” have the ball, the referee, the corner flags, the nets, the mascot, stuff around the ground all in rainbow colours, have workshops around the grounds, so you’re actually meeting people. If we’re going to host something, it’s no good going to talk to people who are already converted. The people who you want to get out are the fans on the terraces”.

“Why can’t we show the world that we’re taking it seriously instead of going “we’ll have a talk”? I’d love to see the stewards trained properly and have cameras on their tops like the police do. I’d like them to film the people and get them banned for life. You can’t just play on, you’ve got to stop it, if you don’t stop it, it’s going to carry on. What are we saying? We’re saying this is wrong and if you say it, you’re out and you don’t come back. We need to lead by example”.

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Looking back on his first 365 days in the job, former Charlton Athletic Women’s and Estonia coach Keith Boanas believes Neville’s playing career helped make up for any shortfall in his coaching credentials. “There can be no doubting that the experience gained both as a player under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson and then his apprenticeship as a coach with professional men’s clubs gave him a great base to work from. This alone would have gained respect from the players very quickly and if you have that, then you can move forward”.

Phil Neville was appointed England manager last year without any senior managerial experience. Picture: Asif Burhan

In twelve months he has used 34 players in 12 matches that have brought seven wins, three draws and two defeats. A thumping 4-1 win over the World Cup hosts, France, in his first match was followed by a disappointing home draw with Wales which put automatic qualification in doubt until a place in the finals was secured by a 3-0 win in the return fixture. However, a home defeat to Sweden in their last match of the year rekindled doubts over whether England had moved on from the team which reached the semi-finals of their last two major tournaments.

Sophie Lawson, an international women’s football journalist, believes that last performance highlights familiar concerns about the Lionesses. “The issues that plagued Mark Sampson’s team are still there, England still can’t break defensive teams down. They routinely look short on answers to basic questions their opposition pose.”

Looking ahead to the World Cup, Boanas believes, “the challenge for Phil will be finding the players who can maintain a consistency and moulding them into a squad that will peak at the right time. It’s a cliche I know, but a balance of experience and youth, calm heads with hungry and fearless players”.

Attempting to find this balance between those who have served England so well for a decade and those who’s impact could turn them into potential champions, Neville, drawing on his own playing experience, has looked to slowly introduce players who have gone through the age-group pathway. “There’s got to be a plan. Whenever I got into the first team at Manchester United, I didn’t play at Stamford Bridge because the boss wanted to protect me, you’ve got to protect young players”. Of the 28 players Neville took to Qatar last week for a warm-weather training camp, 19 survive from his first squad which travelled to last year’s She Believes Cup. He has lost his vice-captain, Jordan Nobbs, to a long-term injury which will unfortunately keep her out of the World Cup. England’s most capped footballer, Fara Williams has been supplanted in midfield by Lucy Staniforth and Georgia Stanway. Goalkeeper, Siobhan Chamberlain has lost her place to the younger Mary Earps and Ellie Roebuck, Anita Asante replaced by the recalled Rachel Daly and the addition of Abbie McManus and Leah Williamson in defence.

According to Boanas, “he has experimented well and looked at options including young players. There was in the past that old guard stigma much like in the men’s team, but more for the fact the options were not there. Now, there are far more ambitious, exciting young talents breaking through, two or three players in literally every position of a similar level”.

Ahead of his first match last February, Neville implemented his first tactical switch moving striker Fran Kirby into midfield, the position in which she is now listed. “It took probably two or three days to convince her and she went out against France and she was sensational. Wherever he can get Fran Kirby on the ball to do her best work is where we’ll play Fran Kirby. I want multi-functional players in this team”.

Lawson however is unsure whether the right players are being properly integrated into the squad, “journalists and fans alike have welcomed the newer faces like Lucy Staniforth and Lauren Bruton, but it still feels that those who deserve to be in the squad on form and merit aren’t getting a respectable look. The further worry is that he’s trialling players like Staniforth out of position and persevering with something that doesn’t work”.

Of the new players, it is Man City Women’s Georgia Stanway, the star and top goalscorer of the Young Lionesses u20 World Cup last summer who Boanas believes is the closest to forcing her way into Neville’s starting team. “She has great technical ability and game understanding but also a touch of arrogance and aggression about her that, if controlled, adds together to make a real winner”.

Inheriting a team that finished third in the world four years ago, there can be no doubt that expectations on Neville’s Lionesses are elevated. The FA’s investment in the team alone justifies results on the pitch. Like his predecessor Neville is adamant that England will be the best prepared team in the tournament but Lawson feels that this may not be sufficient to win it. “It always feels like those not in England will put the Lionesses in the mix as a team to go far – too heavily invested in to be a dark-horse but a side with semi-final potential – and why not, given their recent tournament record? But, from watching this team play, I feel they are eleven players still trying to feel things out on the pitch. They’re all full-timers so the rigours of a tournament shouldn’t see them fall away based on a lack of conditioning but the lack of style, of substance?”

“There is little to suggest what is being put together is a team of champions. A good draw and this side will clear a hurdle or two but there is always a smarter team out there and that will derail the Lionesses”.

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Spurs Season Ticket Holder Stewart Rowe in the South Stand of the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Picture: Stewart Rowe

On Sunday, 6000 Season Ticket Holders were drawn from a ballot and given the chance to attend a “fan familiarisation” event within the 17,500 capacity South Stand which will replace Anfield’s Kop as the largest single-tiered stand in the country. Among them were Stewart Rowe, a season-ticket holder for 29 years, who finally got to use his stadium access card three months after it was sent out to him.

“It really is awe-inspiring” said Rowe of his first view of the seating area. Angled at 34 degrees and with the first row of seating less than five metres from the goal-line, he added that, “the immediate thing that strikes you is how steep and compact the stand is. The seats are as close to the pitch as White Hart Lane was. Tottenham promised that, and they have delivered”. The lower part of the stand has been built with rail seating installed which could be turned into a safe-standing area for 7,500 fans should there be a change in stadium legislation.

The new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Picture: Stewart Rowe

The designers of the new stadium took their inspiration from Borussia Dortmund’s Südtribüne as Christopher Lee of Populous explained, “If you’ve ever been to a game at Dortmund it’s incredible. The atmosphere was really important for us, so the idea of the single tier really drive the idea of that atmosphere”. With yesterday’s Champions League round of 16 draw handing Tottenham another clash with Dortmund, there will be a chance for fans of both teams to compare their respective South Stands to see who can generate a greater “Wall of Sound”.

Tottenham’s new South Stand is modelled on Borussia Dortmund’s Südtribüne
Picture: Asif Burhan

Within the stadiums concourse, fans were able to visit The Market Place, which takes “inspiration from London’s vibrant street food market scene”. Running parallel to the pitch, the South Stand also houses the Goal Line Bar, the longest bar in Europe at 65m. Fans will be able to sample craft beer from the Beavertown Taproom, the first micro-brewery within a football stadium. Rowe found prices to be comparable with Wembley and the quality of the food to be much higher.

The home match with Watford on Wednesday 30 January is the now the target for the opening of the new stadium. However, with further test events necessary before the venue is allowed to stage first-team matches, Levy is unwilling to make any promises. “What I don’t want to do is set any firm dates until we have finally achieved a safety certificate”. For Rowe any further delays would be a massive disappointment. “A lot of people commented that it would be hard going back to Wembley after having seen what is coming at the new stadium”.

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