Bethany England: 'Invest in girls football to ensure World Cup final is no one-off'

Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Spain in the Sydney final meant England’s women under Sarina Wiegman came just short of bringing a World Cup trophy home for the first time since Sir Alf Ramsey and his men were crowned world champions in 1966.

Second was still a best-ever result for the Lionesses in a global showpiece, beating the bronze medal from eight years ago in Canada, and Spurs striker England is determined for the moment to live on as part of a lasting legacy.

She agreed knowing this summer’s campaign would still inspire millions of young people was a “huge comfort”, adding: “Everyone wanted us to win, we wanted us to win and we didn’t, but hopefully we’ve still been able to show that we can do it, we can get there.

“Hopefully this opportunity will come round again but I think for everyone that we have inspired, everyone that’s stuck with us along the way, everyone that’s supported us, I can’t be more thankful for them.

“Hopefully we see more funding, everything gets pumped into grassroots because the talent’s there, you’ve got to go and find it and I think for us we’ve shown that we can compete at major tournaments and get all the way so the more we can help the younger generations for the future the better.”

The 29-year-old from Barnsley was part of the squad that last summer lifted the Euro 2022 trophy at Wembley, a first major tournament triumph for the Lionesses, though England did not feature in a single minute of the competition. She was more involved in the World Cup, playing 56 minutes as a substitute across five of the Lionesses’ seven matches.

“Unfortunately, we fell at the last hurdle but ultimately I think everyone should be more than proud of what they have achieved,” she said. “We’ve made history already. Hopefully we’ve continued to inspire the nation.”

Days after England and her team-mates secured their European title last summer, the Lionesses wrote a letter to then-Conservative leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak demanding an equal PE provision for girls and boys after learning that, according to Football Association (FA) data, only 63 per cent of schools offered girls’ football in lessons.

Their campaign paid off on International Women’s Day in March, when the government announced that girls would be granted equal access to all school sport as part of a package of measures backed by over £600 million in funding over the following two academic years.

Nearly six months after that pledge, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, speaking in Sydney, tsaid the government is optimistic that a universal offering would be achieved by the end of that period.

She said: “We made a massive investment and commitment in making sure that young girls in school can play the games that they want to, just like the boys. We really want to ensure that there is equality for boys and girls in school.”