My wife and I are both fairly big football fans. She supports Leeds United, and I support Manchester United, which keeps things interesting in our house.
As well as following the men’s game, we’ve been watching women’s football for about years or so. Like a lot of women’s football fans, we mainly started by following England, and we’ve been lucky enough to see the Lionesses play a couple of times.
The game has come on massively since those earlier days. Back then, players like Karen Carney, Jill Scott, Faye White, Ellen White, Rachel Yankey and others were helping to build something that has grown into the game we see today.
At the time, it often seemed to be a game built around long passes, looking to exploit space between the lines, and shots taken from inside the penalty area. There was also, at least to my eyes, a noticeable difference in fitness levels compared with the modern game.
Then came 2012, which felt like a watershed moment for women’s football in England. The game began to develop quickly. More investment came in, standards rose, and for more players it became a full-time job rather than something they had to fit around the rest of their lives.
Today, it feels like a very different sport. There is far more tactical control, aggressive pressing, and a much greater emphasis on possession. The players are more athletic, the movement is more fluid, and the game feels quicker, sharper, more creative, and more powerful. You now see players striking the ball from much further out with real confidence.
It’s been brilliant to watch that growth over the years, and even better to feel that women’s football is no longer tucked away in the background. It is properly part of the football conversation now, and rightly so.
Come on Lionesses.
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