How times have changed for the Lionesses
Nick Judd
Let’s be very clear: the Lionesses are big winners, despite the result not going their way against Spain in the World Cup final.
You see, back in the early noughties, when we started doing matchday programmes for England’s women’s team on behalf of the FA, things were very different.
For a start, tickets were very easy to come by! Crowds were passionate back then, but it was very much a case of quality over quantity, as attendances were small in size. England would get 3,500 here, or just over 4,000 there, creeping over 5,000. Games were held at League One and League Two stadiums, and were rarely filled.
Yet you could sense things were changing.
I remember, on one occasion, in 2017, after having a kickabout on the pitch and doing a photoshoot with Fran Kirby and Gemma Davison at Wycombe Wanderers’ Adams Park, both players gave us all the time in the world. It was a brilliant few hours. There was nothing like the media clamour the Lionesses face today. We had plenty for them to do, but there wasn’t the line of journalists they face now, or the pressures to meet various demands. Were it not for their tracksuits, I’m pretty sure few people would have recognised them as they walked around the place (though their skills in the kickabout would have made it more obvious).
That’s all changed. Press activities are jam-packed with journalists, and consist of military-organised operations to ensure all of the various commercial and communicative demands are met, including from the biggest channels/outlets. No more kickabouts on the pitch for us.
England won 7-0 that night in front of a crowd of just under 6,000 people.
The matchday programmes as they were then were small in pagination, in line with some of England’s men’s development teams. It was quite hard to find out information about the opposition, even some of the home players. We didn’t sell loads.
That’s all changed.
Fast forward to that balmy summer of 2022, when Sarina Wiegman’s side were selling out big stadiums – Old Trafford, Brighton’s Amex Arena – and crushing teams that would previously have hurt them as they cruised through the rounds in the Euros.
A few emails started to circulate about whether or not we should think about doing something should England go all the way, like a commemorative magazine, perhaps. We’d never been in a position to do anything like that before (the closest we came was during London 2012), but it was super exciting to be able to celebrate what was happening, and play a miniscule part in ensuring the Lionesses’ efforts were remembered and immortalised on page for evermore.
Then, as they continued to progress: ‘Mate, can you get us tickets for the quarters/semis/final?’
This was and still is a common question around England men’s matches and Cup finals, but it was a sea of change for the women’s game. Friends who had previously laughed off the women’s game now wanted a slice, and were discussing players, starting line-ups and tactics just as they would the clubs they support.
Since the Euros, England continue to be the hottest ticket in town. Everyone knows who the players are. Everyone tunes in when they’re playing. Now it’s not a case of ‘watching the women’s football’, it’s simply just ‘watching the football’.
Their path to the final this time around was even more impressive, too. They did it on the other side of the world and so without the feverish home support that carried them through last summer. They did it without some of their best players – Beth Mead, Fran Kirby, captain fantastic Leah Williamson (and most recently, Keira Walsh and Lauren James) – and they did it with a weight of expectation that wasn’t there last summer (well, not at the start anyway).
Sure, we didn’t get the result we were all hoping for, but there remains this feeling that this team is on the rise. We look forward to the home matches that follow their return from Down Under being sell outs again, with bumper programmes flying off the shelves, of course.
It’s been amazing watching, and covering, their meteoric rise. You get the sense that this is just the start, too.
