Grassroots players say England’s penalty heroes have taken ladies football to another level
F
rom mid-afternoon on Sunday, the Leyton Star pub in east London was filled with hundreds of pint-clutching fans dressed in the Lioness kit and swaddled in flags to watch England play Spain for their second major international tournament final in two years – hoping this time they might flip the result.
They were joined by thousands more fans in pubs and community centres across the UK, and audiences tuning in at home, whose number is expected to surpass the 17.4m peak seen during the semi-final.
Members of the dozen grassroots women’s teams who had played earlier that day in a nearby football tournament told the Guardian that, although enthusiasm for the Euros had taken a while to build, they felt that women’s football was bigger than ever.
