How women’s football hit the back of the net

They’ve captured the hearts of the nation with their impressive World Cup run, winning legions of new fans and inspiring the next generation of young footballers.

A record-breaking 11.7 million viewers tuned in to cheer on the Lionesses in their dramatic semi-final against the USA.

And while England faced heartbreak on the pitch after being defeated by the world champions, they can celebrate a significant victory off the field.

People have been glued to the action in France like never before with matches also shown on big screens around the country, including at Glastonbury Festival.

It is part of an overall movement that suggests the women’s game is finally breaking through into the mainstream.

Wolverhampton-born commentator Jacqui Oatley has been delighted that the tournament has sparked debates that have nothing to do with gender of those playing.

“It’s not been about comparing the women’s game to the men’s which is tiresome and dull and people in the women’s game are fed up of it,” she says.

“It’s been about things like VAR, tactics and the players’ fitness levels. It’s lovely seeing debates about actual football with some knowledge they’ve banked from the last tournament.”

While viewer figures for the semi-final were in the millions, the average attendance for a match in the Women’s Super League was just 830 last season.

Jacqui, who was in Rennes commentating on seven matches for Fifa’s official broadcasts, including Germany’s quarter-final against Sweden, is keen to ensure that women’s football isn’t just viewed as a television spectator sport.

She believes now is the ideal time for clubs to try to boost attendances and help “develop a culture of buying tickets regularly for women’s matches”.

“The big challenge is translating this level of interest into bums on seats,” says Jacqui. “I think this huge amount of exposure needs to be capitalised on by marketers and clubs.

“People need to know when and where they can watch matches. At the moment there is a lack of information and it’s not always clear where you get tickets from, how you get to a ground and where you park. It needs to be made simple.”

Another part of the Lionesses’ 2019 World Cup legacy is the hope that it will normalise the fact that girls can play football as well as boys and increase participation.

Social media has been awash with parents’ pictures of girls cheering on the Lionesses.

While the number of girls playing football still lags behind the number of boys, in Shropshire interest has grown considerably.

Around 1,000 young female players are currently taking part in the girls league with new divisions have been added recently to cater for the demand.

Shropshire FA also recently launched its Be Part Of It campaign to encourage those inspired by the tournament to get involved.

Eve Bailey, a football development officer at Shropshire FA, says they’ve also received many enquires from women keen to start playing or coaching since the World Cup kicked-off.

“The coverage of the World Cup has been absolutely fantastic and really positive. The players are great role models and there has been a lot of interest,” says Eve.

Meanwhile Jacqui believes the tournament may have helped to change the views of some parents who still consider football to be a “boy’s sport”.

“The key thing about the Lionesses doing well and the tournament as a whole is that it will help parents to actually think ‘maybe I will take my daughter along to football as well as my son’,” says Jacqui.

The Lionesses will face Sweden in the third-place play-off in Nice tomorrow, and Jacqui says they can be proud of what they’ve achieved.

“The US were too good for them in the end. There’s no shame in losing to the world champions and world number ones, beaten only by a one goal margin,” she says.

“Their success has been winning the hearts and minds of the public.

“It has increased awareness of the game and people have fallen in love with the them throughout the tournament.”