England Women's Football:
A Pioneering Past
England 2005: The UEFA Women's European Championships
Going into 2005, Hope Powell’s side faced one of the biggest pressures of sport, being the host of an international tournament. England were unable to advance past the group stages of their home tournament in 2005, however the competition proved a game changer for women’s football in England.
The Women’s Super League (WSL) was yet to be constructed but hopes of a professional domestic league propelled England to apply to host the Women’s European Championships.
The competition comprised of two groups of four teams, England’s side was made up of players that were not all full-time professionals, many working additional jobs to keep themselves financially afloat.
Bev Ward, the FA executive responsible for the tournament’s marketing and communication strategy recalls one memory in particular from the tournament…
“England were playing at Ewood Park in Euro 2005, but they were held up getting there because the team bus was waved down by fans lining the approach roads.”
Stars of the game such as Rachel Yankey and Kelly Smith reminisce that it was the first time that they had seen women and girls wearing England replica shirts with their names printed on the back.
England Women's Squad photographed before the opening match of the 2005 Euros against Finland.
The main objective for the 2005 Euros was increasing interest and creating a legacy for women’s football. With fixtures taking in Blackburn, Blackpool, Manchester, Preston, and Warrington, the biggest task was ensuring fans turned up to matches in person. Excellent promotion of the host’s opener against Finland on Sunday the 5th of June at the City of Manchester Stadium brought in a crowd of 29,092. This was a record for an England women’s match. England took the 3-2 win over Finland with a late winner from Karen Carney as 3 million people watched her scream and swear into the camera on BBC One. It sparked an excitement that would follow England’s remaining group fixtures. A total of 69,481 fans watched England’s three group games, achieving the tournament’s objective to increase the awareness of women’s football in England.
Disappointingly, home media coverage largely disappeared after England’s exit from the tournament, but the legacy of the tournament did not fade as soon as England’s participation did. A survey in the 2005/06 season found that women’s football had the highest participation rate for any team sport played by women over the age of 16. The 2005 Euros raised the profile of the game as a participation sport for girls and young women.
Although it took a while longer to get off the ground than they had hoped, the 2005 Euros proved that there was a fanbase for the women’s game, allowing organisers to look with more certainty to launching a sustainable women’s league.
Karen Carney celebrates her 92nd winner against Finland at the 2005 Euros alongside teammates Rachel Yankey and Eniola Aluko.