The UEFA Women’s Euros 2022 – the legacy
18 August 2022
The UEFA Women’s Euros 2022 has been a real catalyst for change, raising the profile of women’s football. The games were attended by record numbers; they were screened on BBC One, were watched by millions – and of course – the Lionesses won!
Across the country, clubs are reporting increased season ticket sales. Aston Villa Women has seen a 84% increase in season tickets sold, while Brighton & Hove Albion Women reported a 249% increase compared to this time last year. Meanwhile, industry organisation Women in Football reported that a record-breaking 29,000 girls are set to play in the 2022/23 Girls National Cup competitions.
At the National Football Museum we celebrated the Women’s Euros by launching the first part of our Crossing the Line exhibition on women’s football on the eve of the tournament and with a heritage project where we worked alongside the FA and with the other host cities to celebrate women’s voices in the game. We did this by interviewing past Lionesses and by interviewing fans in the Manchester Piccadilly Fan Zone.
All together we interviewed 13 players and administrators from the women’s game and 34 fans from Manchester, the wider UK, from Iceland, Sweden and Belgium – teams Manchester hosted this year – and from further afield. These are important for the museum’s archives as we continue to increase our understanding and recording of the women’s game as well as to work towards gender parity in our museum.
