England attempt to close down Germany’s Melanie Leupolz during the 3-0 defeat at Wembley on Sunday

Published: 27 November, 2014
by CATHERINE ETOE

THERE were no girls teams in my neck of the woods when I was growing up. Back then, in the 1970s, the best most football-mad lasses could hope for was a kick around with the lads in the street. 

I was 21 when I finally found a team to join, but the only players who had ever inspired me to do so were men with curly hair and big moustaches who kicked seven bells out of one another every Saturday. 

It turns out that there were other role models I could have looked to: the first England women’s team was set up in 1972 and they trained at Wembley Stadium before their debut match.

England, then run on a shoestring budget by the Women’s FA, were allowed to do more than just dribble around cones at Wembley in 1989 – they actually played on the pitch in a prelude to a men’s international. 

England made Wembley history again on Sunday, debuting in the “new” stadium in a friendly with Germany arranged just for them. Despite the driving rain, tube engineering works and a fire at Charing Cross, a record 45,000 people made it to the match to cheer the teams on. 

For everyone involved in the game this was a chance to celebrate just how far we’ve come since 1971 when the FA lifted a 50-year-old ban on women playing in affiliated grounds, and 1993 when England were finally brought under the FA’s umbrella. 

Unfortunately, neither Germany nor the weather had read the script and a 3-0 defeat, coupled with relentless rain, meant there was no repeat of the victory or the carnival atmosphere we enjoyed in 2012 when 70,000 fans rocked Wembley as Team GB’s Olympic women footballers (mostly made up of England players) beat Brazil 1-0.

I cried in the press box at the emotion of it all that day but felt nothing on Sunday. Maybe 2012 was enough; that was our watershed moment. The rest is a work in progress.

So I’m over England’s defeat and just thankful that the game happened at all. I’m also glad that girls today can find teams and female role models more easily than my generation could. 

And that there are structures in place to bring through those who are capable of one day playing for England. It’s been 19 years since Sepp Blatter declared that the “future of football is feminine”. 

I doubt that the playing field will ever be level but maybe, with more days like Sunday, women can at least play their rightful part in the future of this beautiful game. 

• Catherine Etoe is co-author of Three Lions on her Shirt: The England Women’s Story