You think it’s all over? It’s only just begun
Nick Goddard
“You think it’s all over? It’s only just begun” were the words that BBC Sport’s Gabby Logan chose to sign off the BBC’s coverage of the Euro 2022 Final, where England beat Germany. Thankfully it didn’t go to penalties after all!
The final was the highest ever attendance for a European Championship fixture in the men's and women's games, with a record breaking TV audience and over half a million spectators attending the tournament matches, including many families, women and young girls.
At her post final press conference, the England manager Sarina Wiegman thanked the players, staff and the FA and added "We changed society".
The England captain, Leah Williamson, speaking before the final, said she believes the tournament will prove transformational for not just women’s football but wider gender equality. She became the first England captain to lift a major trophy since Bobby Moore raised the World Cup in 1966 and she is intensely proud to have been part of what she regards as a watershed moment for women. “What we’ve seen in the tournament already is that this hasn’t just been a change for women’s football but society in general, it’s about how we’re looked upon,” said Williamson. She continued “I’ve only ever been in this football workplace but, in most workplaces across the world, women still have a few more battles to face to try to overcome. For every success we make, for every change of judgment or perception or the opening of the eyes of somebody who will now view women as somebody with the potential to be the equal of her male counterpart, that can create change in society.”
Volkswagen, an official partner of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 and also for the German Football Association, adopted a campaign that focused out the inequalities that exist within football and the hashtag #NotWomensFootball, with the aim of triggering a discussion around the topic of equal opportunities.
Their campaign focused on common use of the term “women’s football” to describe matches played by female teams. Adding “women’s” gives the impression that this is not “real” football – while men’s teams simply play “football”, without any additional specifications.
Language is an important factor in changing the narrative.
Time will tell but England’s victory at Euro 2022 and the success of the tournament overall feels like a transformational moment, another breakthrough milestone for gender equality, not just in sport but more widely.
References:
The Guardian : ‘Women’s football and society has changed’: Williamson hails Euro impact
