Bardsley: Euros could raise the bar for women's game | OneFootball

Former City and England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley hopes this summer's European Championship will take women's football to new heights.

Bardsley retired from professional football at the end of the 2021/22 season and has since been working as Legacy Chair for Manchester & Trafford for this summer's tournament.

The 37-year-old also occupies an advisory role for women and girl's football with the Manchester FA as she seeks to give back to the game that she played professionally for so many years.

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Talking about the Euros, which starts on Wednesday night when England face Austria at Old Trafford, Bardsley highlighted the incredible level of interest from the public across the UK.

"It’s really exciting. Ticket sales are flying out," she said.

"The fact Old Trafford and Wembley sold out so quickly is great. We want this to be a stepping stone for future European Championships.

"We want to continue to raise the bar. It’s a great opportunity to see great teams. There are games at the Academy Stadium and England will be touring the country, playing in some amazing parts of the country and some amazing grounds."

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Bardsley ended her career with 82 international caps, including matches at three World Cups, two European Championships and the 2012 Olympics.

That means the former shot-stopper knows better than most the pressure of a major tournament and the impact it can have in growing the game.

She said: "If you go back to London 2012 and the Olympics, that was the first time I really felt an impact. It was a major event that everyone wanted to be a part of.

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"The next opportunity for me to experience that was probably 2015 when we beat Germany and brought home a bronze medal. We were detached in the bubble and we didn’t know the impact we were having back home.

"There are things you hear from other people, family tell you they’ve seen this or that but until you get home and people come up to you in the street and recognise you and want pictures and autographs, that’s when it hits you.

"The viewing numbers are going up. It’s awesome and I just want it to carry on."

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In terms of this year's edition, Bardsley is backing England to go all the way.

Sarina Wiegman's squad includes seven current City players.

They are in fine form ahead of the competition, defeating Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland in recent warm-up fixtures.

"To be honest, I think England have a really great shot" Bardsley asserted.

"Obviously, being the host nation, you get a bit of an extra buzz and lift, being in front of your home fans.

"My money is going to be on England to make the Final – it would be wrong of me to say anything else!"