The Ball and the Gender Equality Ball came together in Sheffield at the Football Supporters Association (FSA) organised fan event for the Free Lionesses, the England Women’s Supporters group on arguably the biggest match in the history of women’s football in England. BBC Talk Sport, the most listened to sports radio programme in the UK was broadcasting from Triple Point Brewery. Karli Richards (Spirit’s USA Ambassador) and Andrew Aris (SOF Director) went live on the air with The Ball.
England fan Rachel Major talked to us about following the Lionesses home and away. She was slightly disappointed that the England fans were so disjointed at EURO 2022, this she said led to less coordinated singing. It would be great, she said, to have the hard-core Lionesses fans collected together in a singing block as they are at away games or at men’s games.
After going live on air with him, we met Sam Matterface, Chief Football Commentator at ITV and Talk Sport and he had this to say:
„We have been covering the Women’s European Championship 2022. We have been big into trying to promote the tournament as much as possible. For two reasons: to establish that the infrastructure that has been put in place in Women‘s football continues and also to give our daughters the opportunity to play the game and to get involved in the sport that we all love. It has been a brilliant atmosphere across the whole country. I have been lucky to go to World Cups with the men and be able to travel around covering England, but covering the Lionesses is really different. The Atmosphere, the positivity that surrounds the support gives everybody the opportunity to enjoy football and that is what we want. Afterall, One Ball, One World!“
The game itself was very one-sided. England cruised to a convincing 4-0 victory, egged on by an ecstatic crowd. As the crowd sung Sweet Caroline and other hits in unison after the match, the English players completed a lap of honour – they basked in the moment, unwilling – so it seemed – to want to leave the pitch. The juxtaposition of the Swedes: After the final whistle we came within a few metres of several Swedish players, tears in their eyes, being comforted by their loved ones. Their dreams in tatters.
The players play football with incredible skill and speed, with their hearts and souls, at the highest level. The fans, it seems´, are catching on too: The three biggest crowds in Europe in 2022 have all been at Women’s football matches. The atmosphere though is different to men’s football. It isn’t full of aggression and hate. The language is better. More families are in the stadium. It is fun and positive. We were reminded once again of one of the advertisements on the boards along the side of the pitch: „Not Women’s Football. Women Play Football”. They most certainly do!