Lionesses

The Lionesses’ Euro 2022 triumph didn’t only inspire young girls and women, but also men like me.

When I began drafting this piece and filtered through pictures in my mind, I hesitated. Chloe Kelly’s epic celebration instantly revolved on repeat. It radiated with incredible and inspiring power + meaning that had me hooked in awe. Yet I was concerned about how the moment may be sexualised by others, or how I may be deemed to be inappropriate or sexualising it by having it as my cover photo for this article.

incredible and inspiring power + meaning that had me hooked in awe (image source: Sky News)

Then I realised I should stand firm + fearless by the power + meaning of these moments to me and millions of people around the world, just like Chloe Kelly herself was when charging towards the crowds, cameras and her team on the touchline! You dream of moments like this where you can FREELY celebrate your successes, and it was stunning to see her EMBRACE it effusively. It was emancipating, thrilling, inspiring!

Chloe Kelly: emancipating, firm + fearless (image source: Alex Livesey)

I want to recognise + appreciate this meaning, and the energy revolving around it all!

Inspiration

The Lionesses’ Euro 2022 triumph didn’t only inspire young girls and women, but also men like me. For so long women in sport, let alone football, have often not been taken seriously and given a fair chance. Ridiculed, abused, disrespected, maligned, ignored + overlooked.

Yet these women, and those who laid down the roots before them, persevered to pursue their passion. It’s not the same of course, but I feel like I can relate to and resonate with that. They inspire me, greatly, and I don’t feel any shame in saying so.

they inspire me, greatly, and I don’t feel any shame in saying so (image source: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The Journey

As Ian Wright passionately proclaimed as a pundit on BBC’s coverage of the game (what a guy, revere him!), the talent of this terrific team isn’t a product of the system, but has occurred in spite of the system. The journey of women’s football can be traced to the late 1800’s then the First World War when some games took place here in England. For decades after there was great hostility towards women’s football, including bans! Then a slow shift started from the 1970’s onwards when the pioneer ‘England Ladies’ played their first games.

Yet it is only in recent years female footballers in England have began to gain some respectable level of professional recognition (although arguably this still is insufficient in it’s current form)! I can only imagine the strife + sacrifice required by these pioneers and incumbent players, and the challenges they’ve had to navigate. Things like long arduous commutes and having to work + study to fund their footballing careers and a living whilst training + playing probably skims the surface of what many have had to endure!

Pioneers: i can only imagine the strife + sacrifice (image source: Getty Images)

So to have persisted + persevered with a steadfast + steely determination, with limited resources + support, then to rattle records + break barriers on one of the grandest stages in world sport, IN STYLE, is staggering (that lovely lob from Ella Toone after a brilliant through ball from Keira Walsh just oozed class)!

It makes you believe that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. To dream BIG, persist + persevere with what is important to you, in what you believe in regardless of what the system, customs + norms say. You will get there one day! Beautiful.

The Legacy

Whilst watching each pass + move during the game, I knew I was witnessing history unfold. Throughout the tournament I’ve felt a refreshing humility and compassionate, positive energy from many of the players and pundits in interviews + analyses. The vibe just felt natural, raw, unsculptured and real, from everyday people.

I loved witnessing this difference in energy, and I believe this is only the beginning, a NEW beginning. In whipping her shirt off and running wild + free, in some ways Chloe Kelly was shattering the shackles many have put in the way of women’s football. She smashed any lewd + ludicrous labels ascribed on the game and redefined it in her own terms. That long-awaited surge to new levels + heights for the sport was now in full flight and motion.

If I was in that dressing room after the win, although part of me would be revelling in the win, the other part of me would be hungry and hankering for the next one. I am wholly certain these players will be also, and I am excited to be behind them moving forward. World Cup 2023, why not?!

‘Beyond Greatness’: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, taking place in Australia and New Zealand (image source: FIFA)

But moving beyond the team, there is huge potential + opportunity to build on this. I had the chance to be there in person at the final, but clearly didn’t try hard enough to get there! I’ve followed women’s football like all football for a while, but I’m excited about stepping that up in the future. I hope I can be there in person to witness a new wave of evolution towards girls and women, towards sport, towards people!

I hope this success encourages people to embrace change + new, different ways of doing things and from ‘different’ people, and exemplifies how society can thrive in doing so. With all that’s going on in the world right now, doing this is the only way forward!