How can the Lionesses build upon the inspiration and momentum they have created?
Winning the Euros and finishing second at the World Cup has created a wave of momentum for the England Women’s team, inspiring new generations as they do so. How can they continue to build on this?
Transcript
00:00 The Lionesses may not have won the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand,
00:05 but one thing they did do is inspire generations of young female footballers.
00:10 And this was always the aim of a lot of the players in the squad, including Chloe Kelly.
00:15 Last summer we saw thousands come out to support you.
00:17 We're here at St George's Park under the hood of English football.
00:20 What does that say about the health of women's football and just how much passion there is for it these days?
00:26 And of course you're inspiring many people around the country.
00:29 Yeah, I think it's great. I think we were those kids one day with a dream.
00:34 And to be able to be here now is amazing.
00:37 And I think we can see how far the game has come, but also where it can go to.
00:44 I think it's very exciting for the women's football.
00:47 Not only have they inspired younger generations, but under a manager with the experience and prowess of Serena Vigeman,
00:54 the Lionesses have the capability to continue to compete all the way through upcoming major international tournaments.
01:01 What's it like playing under Serena Vigeman?
01:03 Yeah, it's great. A great manager. You can learn so much from her and her staff too.
01:09 And yeah, I think it's really enjoyable and it's great every time coming on camp.
01:15 With a combination of a manager such as Serena Vigeman and a young squad still in transition and missing several key names to injury,
01:23 things looked bright for the England women's national team, according to the Athletics' Jacob Whitehead.
01:30 Obviously, England Euros winners last year and then this year World Cup runners-up.
01:35 It's been a remarkable period, a remarkable 12 months under Serena Vigeman.
01:39 But what happens next for this side? Where do they go from here in terms of progression?
01:44 The exciting thing about this team is that they definitely... this is not any sort of ending.
01:49 They've got players to return, as we've already mentioned, from injury.
01:52 But also if you think about who might not make the next European Championships in Switzerland in 2025,
01:58 there's only really two players who kind of... in the starting 11 who might not make it.
02:03 Those are the fullbacks, Lucy Bronze and Rachel Daly, although both of them are only 31.
02:08 So there is still a chance they can make it. Bronze was emphatic after the game that she was not retiring from international duty.
02:15 And you've got, I think it's seven or eight players in the team who are currently 23 or under, including lots of the spine of the team.
02:22 So there's space for growth here. This was a transitional team who reached the final.
02:28 The generation is actually going to even start to come into their primes in the next couple of years.
02:32 Now there are other teams in Europe who are on similar trajectories. Spain are one of them.
02:39 France is another, although you then have other teams such as Sweden or Germany who are maybe sort of coming to endings in their cycles.
02:46 But the future looks bright.
02:48 England women will go into the next European Championships as defending champions.
02:53 And despite their near miss in Australia and New Zealand, there is plenty to be optimistic about in terms of the future of the Lionesses.
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