Women's World Cup final: How England became good at women’s football

Anyone implicit the property of 53 contiguous lived astatine a clip erstwhile women were banned from playing shot successful England.

"The crippled of shot is rather unsuitable for females and ought not to beryllium encouraged," work a connection from the Football Association successful 1921, announcing the prohibition that would basal for astir 50 years.

Another fractional period on, the communicative tells of a remarkably antithetic time. Already European champions, England's Lionesses basal connected the cusp of planetary glory with a Women's World Cup last against Spain coming up connected Sunday.

So however did we get here?

The teenager-turned-trailblazer

It possibly feels unusual to commencement successful 1966, the twelvemonth England won the men's World Cup, but a young Patricia Gregory was watching that lucifer connected television.

Caught up successful the excitement of that, and her beloved Tottenham's FA Cup triumph the pursuing year, the 19-year-old wondered wherefore women couldn't play the crippled too.

She enactment a announcement successful her section insubstantial to inquire for players and was inundated with replies, but the assembly said she could not legally rent a transportation for matches against different women's shot teams.

Undaunted, Gregory yet managed to get a transportation and ended up moving some it and a women's shot league, arsenic good arsenic founding the Women's FA arsenic the game's governing assemblage successful 1969 - the twelvemonth earlier the FA rescinded its prohibition connected women.

Hope and alteration successful the 90s

Hope Powell won 66 caps for England betwixt 1983 and 1998 earlier becoming caput coach. In 2003, she became the archetypal pistillate to execute the Uefa Pro Licence - the highest coaching award

It was successful 1972 that the archetypal authoritative England women's broadside played an planetary lucifer - beating Scotland 3-2 - but different 26 years passed until a full-time caput manager was enactment successful post. Enter Hope Powell.

The 1990s brought galore firsts for women's football. In England, it saw the archetypal Centres of Excellence, the archetypal nationalist league, and the women's crippled being brought nether the power of the FA. On a planetary scale, the 90s brought the archetypal authoritative Fifa Women's World Cup.

But erstwhile Powell took complaint of England successful 1998, it would people the commencement of a 15-year reign successful which she led England to 2 World Cups and 4 European Championships, and cemented her spot arsenic a pioneer of women's shot successful the country, playing a important portion successful the successes we spot today.

A archetypal location Euros

The Women's Euros came to England for the archetypal clip successful 2005, held successful Blackburn, Blackpool, Manchester, Preston and Warrington with Germany lifting the trophy astatine Ewood Park.

It was a tourney that offered a glimpse successful to the future. Fans adorning replica shirts with players' names connected the backmost flocked to games, an mean attendance of 23,160 accompanied by much than 2 cardinal radical tuning successful to England's games connected the BBC. Yes, involvement diminished aft Powell's broadside failed to get retired of their group, but it was a start.

But aft the tournament, past Uefa president Lennart Johansson provoked an aggravated absorption erstwhile helium said sponsors of women's shot could currency successful by promoting the players' carnal attributes. "Companies could marque usage of a sweaty, beauteous looking miss playing connected the ground, with the rainy weather," helium said.

Plenty inactive needed to change.

England bushed Finland successful their opening Euro 2005 crippled but defeats by Denmark and Sweden meant they finished bottommost of their group

First England contracts

Four years later, different measurement successful the close direction. Seventeen players, including the likes of Casey Stoney, Steph Houghton, Jill Scott and Rachel Yankey, were awarded cardinal contracts by the FA, receiving salaries of £16,000 each.

Those contracts, lasting 4 years, took the unit disconnected those players needing employment extracurricular of shot - though they could inactive enactment for up to 24 hours per week - and required them to beryllium disposable for each grooming camps, matches and tournaments, arsenic good arsenic idiosyncratic appearances.

At the time, Powell said: "We anticipation this volition let our girls clip to ore connected helping England suffice for large tournaments connected a accordant ground and competing astatine the precise apical level against the champion teams successful the world."

The commencement of the Women's Super League

The twelvemonth 2011 saw the motorboat of the Women's Super League, featuring 8 predominantly semi-professional sides who received licenses from the FA aft gathering a strict criteria.

The clubs were fixed £70,000 from the FA for each of the archetypal 2 seasons - to beryllium spent connected infrastructure - and signed up to a wage cap, meaning nary much than 4 players successful each broadside could beryllium paid much than £20,000 successful a bid to guarantee prima players were dispersed reasonably crossed teams.

The opening fixture, held astatine Tooting & Mitcham's Imperial Fields successful southbound London, saw Arsenal bushed Chelsea 1-0 successful beforehand of immoderate 2,500 paying fans, though a bobbly transportation caused issues for some sides.

Poor transportation standards - wherever person we heard that before?

Arsenal's Gilly Flaherty scored the archetypal extremity successful WSL past against Chelsea

Hello Wembley

Wembley Stadium. The Home of Football. Well, men's shot - until 2014 that is, erstwhile England women played their archetypal planetary lucifer astatine the caller Wembley successful a affable against Germany.

Mark Sampson's broadside mislaid 3-0, watched by a then-England grounds assemblage of 45,619. That fig should person been higher, fixed each 55,000 tickets were sold, but astir 10,000 fans did not crook up with transport problems successful London and the upwind to blame.

In 2019, their adjacent quality astatine the nationalist stadium which besides ended successful decision by the Germans, 77,768 were successful the crowd, but that fig had grown to 87,192 by 2022, erstwhile England exacted their revenge connected Germany successful the Euros final.

More connected that later.

WSL turns pro

The summertime of 2018 saw immense alteration for the WSL, transitioning to full-time nonrecreational status with a restructured one-tier, 11-team league.

The FA brought successful caller licence criteria for clubs, meaning each teams had to re-apply for their places, with a request to connection a minimum of 16 interaction hours per week for players and an academy.

In 2022, BBC investigation suggested the mean WSL subordinate present earns £47,000 a year, and aft the Lionesses' Euros success, WSL attendances accrued by 267%, helped by large games being held astatine the country's biggest stadia, including Old Trafford, Emirates Stadium, Anfield and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Wiegman and the Euros

Sarina Wiegman began her reign arsenic England manager successful September 2021 aft seeing retired her declaration arsenic Netherlands caput coach

When the FA announced Sarina Wiegman would win Phil Neville arsenic England's caput manager successful September 2021, they knew they were bringing successful a "proven winner".

Having led the Netherlands to the European rubric successful 2017, and the World Cup last 2 years later, she had the way grounds of "building a winning team".

And truthful it has proved. In her 38 games successful charge, England person mislaid conscionable once. Of her 30 wins, the biggest to day came small much than 12 months ago, erstwhile the Lionesses created past by winning Euro 2022, a archetypal large rubric that catapulted galore of the players to household sanction status.

Victory connected Sunday, successful a maiden World Cup last for the Lionesses, would beryllium adjacent bigger.

World Cup champions?

And truthful to that final.

On Sunday, the Lionesses person a aureate accidental to go the archetypal elder England broadside to triumph the World Cup since 1966, a twelvemonth successful which women similar them were prohibited from playing the sport.

Maybe, conscionable maybe, shot is suitable for females aft all.

• Go present for each the latest from the Women's World Cup