THE UEFA Women’s European Championship kicks off on July 6, 2022 and ticket sales have been very encouraging. Ordinarily, the summer of 2022 would have had a World Cup in the way of the women’s competition, which may have tempered enthusiasm and affected attendances. As it is, EURO 2022 has the opportunity to demonstrate positive momentum and growing appetite for the women’s game, with no distractions.
In 2017, the average attendance at the Euros was down on 2013 by around 700 people per game. The average was 7,969 but already, 410,000 tickets have been sold for the competition. Presumably, 80,000 tickets represent the Wembley final, but even so, the response from the public has been strong and the average crowd should beat all previous Euros (currently, 1989’s average of 8,875 is the record). No wonder UEFA are billing it as “the biggest ever”.
This is an important tournament for women’s football in England. Crowds at Women’s Super League (WSL) games do not seem to be increasing, even though the PR suggests they are on the rise. Certainly, there is no shortage of publicity and the presence of women on the punditry stage reflects a welcome attempt to introduce greater diversity across football, but as a spectator sport, it still has a long way to go, diluting any call for pay equality. More noise doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in popularity, no matter how convincing the campaign.
The WSL wants to triple attendances by 2024, so a successful EURO 2022 could provide a boost towards achieving that objective. Football habits die hard, though, and in order to lure more people to women’s games, those who regularly watch men’s football have to be persuaded that the quality and substance is there. The standard among the top clubs is quite good, but already the WSL has noticeable imbalances that are almost a mirror image of the men’s game – for example, the top teams are: Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United.
It does seem as though it is going to be a very competitive European Championship, with no fewer than half a dozen nations capable of winning the trophy. The favourites, unsurprisingly, are Spain, who are in a tough group that includes Germany, Denmark and Finland. Although they will be without their record scorer, Jenni Hermoso, who recently signed for Mexico’s Pacucha and has been ruled out with a ligament injury, Spain still have many of the all-star Barcelona line-up that won the Champions League in 2021. Irene Paredes, Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati and Mapi Leon will all be available. The Spain squad comprises 19 of a squad of 23 from Barca, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.
England are second favourites with most bookmakers, with host nation status expected to help them along. But importantly, they have a coach with a good track record in Sarina Wiegman, who led the Netherlands to the 2017 title. She has also shown her professionalism in excluding the partially fit Steph Houghton from the squad, resisting the temptation to include her for old time’s sake. The squad, as one would expect, is largely drawn from the top four clubs, with Manchester City providing nine of the 23. With Austria, Northern Ireland and Norway in their group, England should get through quite comfortably.
The holders, the Netherlands, should get through their group alongside Sweden, who are also highly-fancied. The Dutch are coached by Englishman Mark Parsons, who made his name in the US. He has a squad that includes nine of the side that won the 2017 final, including the player of that tournament, Lieke Martens, who is now 29. Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema, who scored 23 goals in 39 games in 2021-22, is also likely to catch the eye.
France are currently third favourites and will face Italy, Belgium and Iceland in their group. Almost half the squad has been drawn from European champions Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain, including France’s imposing captain Wendie Renard, Melvine Malard (both Lyon) and PSG’s free-scoring Marie-Antoinette Katoto.
In addition to these four countries, Germany, Norway, Denmark and Sweden cannot be discounted. It should make for an interesting and ideal 16-team tournament, one that will be more open than many past European Championships and World Cups across both genders.
But no summer competition is without its controversy and there’s been – with some justification – complaints about the choice of venues. Old Trafford, Brighton, Southampton, Brentford, Milton Keynes, Bramall Lane are decent stadiums, but the use of Manchester City’s academy ground, next to the Etihad, seems a little inappropriate. Other games are being played at Leigh and Rotherham. With the greatest respect to these sites, and the City stadium is a nice, compact arena, but if UEFA want to raise the profile and credibility of their product, the right stage has to be available. The decision to appoint these grounds suggests they are a lack of priority. At a time when women’s football is building a reputation and momentum, it deserves better. What was the Football Association thinking, especially when it has poured so much energy into promoting women’s football? But this is not going to be allowed to dampen the enthusiasm for this summer’s biggest football event.
It’s hard to name a winner, but there’s one thing that’s certain in EURO 2022 – there will not be a repeat of the scenes we witnessed at Wembley last summer. Get ready for the well behaved fan experience.
GAME OF THE PEOPLE 