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The Women’s Game: A vision for women’s football 2035

Ahead of the Women’s Euros final, we have teamed up with author Clare McEwen for a special article charting the history of women’s football and what this teaches us for growing the game in the future. Director, Nina Lloyd and Senior Planner, Georgina Kean join forces with Clare, author of "She Can Kick It: The history of women's football across the world"[1], to celebrate the beautiful game and explore a vision for its future progress.

History of the women’s game in the UK

Women’s football isn’t new. Nettie Honeyball formed British Ladies FC in 1894. Church documents referenced games in Scotland in 1628. The earliest recorded international women’s match between Scotland and England was played in 1881 just nine years after the men’s equivalent.  

By studying the history, we can drive sustainable future growth. British Ladies FC were among the first to introduce club-level organisation, financially backed and supported by Lady Florence Dixie. Once funding was withdrawn, the team folded. In 1920, Dick, Kerr Ladies famously played St Helen’s in front of 53,000 spectators. Soon after, the FA banned women from playing on their pitches. Fortunately, Dick, Kerr Ladies had their own pitch and continued to play. This short snippet of history teaches us a lot about the game today, showing the three key elements needed to grow women’s football: fans, funding, and facilities.  

It also needs organisation. In 1997, the FA set out a strategic plan for the growth of football for women and girls. Appointed as the national team’s first full time coach, Hope Powell became instrumental in developing the national team structure. In 1998, 20 Centres of Excellence opened throughout the country; by 2001, there were 50. In 2005, England hosted the Women’s Euros for the first time, an opportunity to invest and drive women’s football forward: a springboard for future success. A record crowd of 29,000 came to watch England’s opening match against Finland, (compared with 18,000 who watched the final in Germany in 2001) and the tournament reached a peak TV audience of 3.5 million in England. 

In 2009, the introduction of central contracts for England players had an instant impact as they finished runners-up at the 2009 Euros and in 2011 the Women’s Super League (WSL) began. England came third in the 2015 World Cup and as more games were shown, the game became more organised and visible, owed to our national and league structures.  

Women’s football today  

Women’s football is the fifth most attended sport in the UK, behind men’s football, rugby union, cricket and horse racing. Commanding a television audience of 17.4 million for the England v Germany Euros 2022 final, women’s football, without doubt, has a fanbase. The most recent penalty shootout with Sweden saw over 7 million viewers with a further 3 million live streaming and 8.3 million views on the live text stream.  

We have 24 professional women’s football teams in England, and this is anticipated to grow. Clubs outside of the Women’s Super League (WSL) Clubs are investing in their women’s facilities; mirroring that of the men’s setup; recognising the value of a high performance environment. Such facilities include dedicated player performance areas, recovery and rehabilitation facilities, additional pitches (including artificial surfaces) and player conditioning. Women’s football is no longer considered a developing market. It is established and demand is clear.

Our 2035 Vision

Could the UK be the first nation to host the Women’s World Cup in purpose-built women’s football stadiums?  

History has shown five key components are required for growth: fanbase, facilities, funding, organisation and visibility. We currently have three of the five components in place. The fanbase is there; organisational support and visibility have improved and have momentum. The focus must be on securing funding and developing our facilities and sporting infrastructure to create an environment which grows, supports and attracts international women footballers. This in turn will promote to future generations that there is infrastructure in place to pursue a career as a female footballer.  

To achieve our vision, we have ten years to build on our rich history and continue to evolve women’s football to be its own entity, not one competing for facilities, pitches and stadia.  

The ten years must not be a moving goalpost or a long-term “goal”.  Discussions need to take place now, alongside preparations and logistics being scheduled, to achieve this at all scales – from the large-scale infrastructure to the promotion and inclusivity of the game at grassroots level to support our players and teams of the future.  

For more information on our vision for women’s football or our work in Sport and Stadia please contact Nina Lloyd or Georgina Kean.

24 July 2025

[1] She Can Kick It: The History of Women's Football Across the World via a Girl in Love with the Beautiful Game: McEwen, Clare J, Rowe-Willcocks, Helen: Amazon.co.uk: Books