Powered by their Chelsea Women ‘backbone’ of Millie Bright in defence and Fran Kirby in midfield, the Lionesses made history at the weekend, beating Germany at Wembley to claim England’s first major tournament win since the 1966 World Cup, back in the mists of time.
If the wave of positive feeling for girls’ sport is properly harnessed and the reservoir of joy about this family-friendly event is tapped, there’s no reason why this shouldn’t be the springboard to a major leap forward in sporting equality.
H&F Council leader Stephen Cowan has pledged to do all in the borough’s power to maximise the opportunity, pointing out that “the Lionesses have done the whole country proud and have inspired more people to play football”.
The screams of joy are still reverberating after the Wembley win, with the England squad being given a fortnight on their deckchairs before training starts again for the new Women’s Super League season.
Chelsea Women’s opening WSL fixture, on Sunday 11 September, has been shifted from Kingsmeadow to Stamford Bridge, to catch the wave of enthusiasm for women’s football, with club insiders hoping up to 25,000 fans will turn up to cheer the women on in a tough opener against London rivals West Ham.
Ahead of the season’s start, Chelsea Women are playing a friendly against Spurs at Kingsmeadow at 2pm on Sunday 28 August, 10 days after the Blues fly to Oregon for the International Champions Cup tournament in the States.
Chelsea Women play Lyon at the Providence Park stadium, with the winners of that European match playing either Portland Thorns FC or Monterrey in the final on 20 August. Each team qualified for the competition by winning championships last season.
You can get tickets for Chelsea Women's games here.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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