The Guardian view on the Lionesses’ Euro 2025 triumph: the comeback queens will inspire future generations | Editorial | OneFootball

Relentlessly, exhilaratingly, Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses have gone where no group of English footballers has ever gone before. Sunday’s heroically hard-fought victory over the world champions, Spain – in a Euro 2025 final which required yet another comeback – was the first successful defence of an international title by a senior England team. It was also the first time a major trophy has been acquired away from the home comforts of Wembley.

That gives the measure of the achievement. What will live long in the memory was the manner of it. Well beaten by France in the group stages, 2-0 down to Sweden late in the quarter-final, 1-0 down to Italy in injury time in the semi-final, 1-0 down to Spain at half-time in the final, a remarkable group of players seemed somehow to thrive in such adversity.

Their spirit was epitomised by the dogged determination of 33-year-old Lucy Bronze, perhaps playing in her last big tournament, who revealed after the final that she had played throughout with a fractured shin. Courage of a different kind has been displayed by England’s goalkeeper and Uefa’s player of the match on Sunday, Hannah Hampton, who overcame a serious eye condition to fulfil her ambition of pursuing a football career. And by Jess Carter, the defender who suffered racist abuse earlier in the tournament, but ended it with a faultless performance in the final. The effervescent Chloe Kelly, who had considered quitting last season when her career was in the doldrums, had the last word as England’s nerveless penalty-shootout match-winner.

Increasingly, such inspirational sporting narratives are the things that young girls’ dreams are made of. Research by the Football Beyond Borders charity suggests that the number of 13- to 18-year-olds who play and follow the game continues to grow. This summer’s excitement will deliver another huge shot of adrenaline to the domestic women’s game, which was already preparing for a different set of firsts.

This season, Arsenal Women will break new ground by playing all of their Women’s Super League (WSL) home games at the 60,000-capacity Emirates Stadium. Already, 15,000 season tickets have been sold. Everton Women will take over Goodison Park, one of English football’s most beloved stadiums, as the men’s team decamp to a new ground on the banks of the Mersey. The Lionesses effect, combined with new television contracts covering two fully professional divisions, and a new Sunday kick-off time designed to maximise exposure of the game, should pave the way for further growth.

Challenges remain. As a slight drop-off in WSL attendances last season suggested, rapid bursts of growth driven by international success is not a reliable long-term strategy. The task in the future will be to maintain upward momentum, even when the England women’s team is not sweeping all before it. And as more girls seek opportunities to play and pitches to play on, a grassroots infrastructure that has been historically geared to the requirements of men’s and boys’ teams needs an overhaul.

That is for tomorrow, though. Once again the Lionesses have lit up an English summer, forging legends that will fire the imaginations of future generations of girls. The extraordinary Ms Wiegman, after winning the Euros first with her native Netherlands, has consolidated her position as by far the most successful England manager of all time. Even more significantly, she has empowered and inspired a formidable group of athletes to transform the profile of women’s sport in this country.

Header image: [Photograph: Michael Zemanek/Shutterstock]