Heather Large: Roaring on the Lionesses in a historic cup final

The Lionesses take on Spain in Sydney tomorrow, after defeating hosts Australia 3-1, and the whole nation will be cheering them on.

Not only is it their first World Cup final but Sarina Wiegman’s team have also become the first England football side to reach that stage since 1966.

It’s been an impressive tournament for captain Millie Bright and co who have shown great determination and focus to progress through the rounds.

I thought former England goalkeeper, Rachel Brown-Finnis, summed it up well when she said: “They have shown everything from every department that makes a world class footballer. Skill, intelligence, nous, character.”

Football clubs around the country have reported a surge in interest from young girls keen to put on their boots and hit the pitch since the Lionesses’ historic victory over Germany in the Euro 2022 final.

And earlier this year the team, who see it as their responsibility to help open doors for girls and women in the sport, achieved their landmark legacy goal: for every girl in England to be given equal access to football and school sport.

As someone who never had the opportunity to play football at school, I was delighted by this announcement.

When I was growing up, there were sports for the boys – football, rugby and cricket – and sports for the girls - netball and hockey.

In summer, everybody got together for the occasional rounders session during our PE lessons.

Playing football was never an option for me or my friends and the mere thought of girls joining in the training sessions was even laughed at by one P.E. teacher.

But now that will hopefully be a thing of the past. If girls want to play football, there should be no reason why they can’t kick a ball around the pitch just like the boys.

It should be an equal playing field and it needs to work both ways. And if boys want to play netball or hockey, then they should also have the same access to these sports as girls. As part of Weekend’s World Cup preview, we spoke to officials at one youth club who had already filled the available spots in their girls’ teams for the new season weeks before the first game of the tournament had kicked off.

We also met women of an older generation who had been inspired after last summer’s Euro 2022 final to take up walking football for the first time.

They had missed out playing the game when they were younger and were now reaping the benefits of the team sport.

So, I have no doubts that the Lionesses’ successful run Down Under is sure to have encouraged even more girls and women to get involved in the beautiful game at all levels.

I just hope there continues to be plenty of clubs and opportunities to cater for this growing demand going forward.

On Wednesday, people turned out to watch the semi-final match on big screens and it was great to see the celebrations that followed the final whistle.

And it was clear by the look of delight on the faces of the players and manager Wiegman, how much it means to them to reach a World Cup final. While manager Wiegman seemed a little bit stunned, saying: “It’s like, am I here in a little fairytale or something?”

I did feel a bit of sympathy for the Australian players and fans who were all clearly gutted but they’ve had a fantastic tournament as hosts.

But now it’s all about England being ready for the biggest game of their footballing careers.

Whatever the result of tomorrow’s match, they have, without a doubt, done their country proud and made history at the same time. Come on Lionesses!