Following their Euros success, the Lionesses wrote an open letter to the government urging them to ensure girls have access to at least two hours of PE each week; the FA has also released the latest participation and growth of women's game figures
Wednesday 21 December 2022 16:52, UK
England players have continued their talks with the government as they attempt to get equal access for girls to play football in schools.
Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Baroness Sue Campbell met officials and ministers from the Department for Education earlier this month following talks with then PM Liz Truss in October, Sky Sports News can reveal.
Following their Euros success, the Lionesses wrote an open letter to government urging them to ensure girls have access to at least two hours of PE each week and the guidance of female teachers in the subject.
It comes as the FA also released the latest participation and growth of women's game figures, which show Women's Super League attendances in 2022/23 have increased by 227 per cent compared to last season.
Other figures include:
Lionesses defender Lotte Wubben-Moy speaking to Sky Sports in September:
"While I am the driving force behind the letter, I think it was something that every single player on that team agreed with.
"The fact that there had been obstacles in our way to play football at a young age meant we all had these shared experiences. Some were better than others - coming from London, I played street football with the boys and it was the most easy, natural thing.
"Other people don't have that opportunity and, as a result, when they do go to school, they don't have the opportunity to play.
"It was more a case of knowing that the barriers are there and how can we help to make it as easy as possible to play sport. The easiest place is at school where it can be facilitated with balls and cones that might be harder to get on your own. Playing in an environment that is safe, enjoyable and where you can relate football to school can make it a positive relationship.
"Not every kid loves football, not every kid loves school, but if we can find a common ground there often is a positive outcome."
Sky Sports News reporter Anton Toloui:
"The players, led by Lotte Wubben-Moy, had a big discussion on the way to the huge Euros celebration in Trafalgar Square about how to capitalise on the moment and make the game better for those playing it right now.
"It's a campaign they haven't dropped despite the change in government. Only 63 per cent of girls have acted to play football within schools in England. Only one in five girls between the age of five and 18 play the nation's most popular sport once a week.
"There's a lot of improvement that can be done and the players are not giving up on it."
The England senior women's team won the UEFA Women's EURO 2022 - the team's first major trophy - and lifted the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup on the way to an unbeaten and record-breaking 2022, with 16 wins, 4 draws and 72 goals in just 20 matches. As a result, awareness of the England senior women's team is up 32 per cent since June 2022 in girls aged 5-16 in England.
At EURO 2022, eight attendance records were broken and there was a total attendance of 574,875, which was double that of EURO 2017, while the attendance of 87,192 at the final, represents a EURO (women's and men's) competition record. A peak TV audience of 17.4m watched the EURO Final on the BBC and there were 5.9m iPlayer and BBC Sport website streams. There was a 365m global viewership (double previous tournament) across 195 territories and an £81m economic boost across nine host cities.
A long-lasting legacy for the tournament was cemented by over 416,000 new opportunities to play, coach, officiate and volunteer created in England across schools, clubs, and the community across the nine host cities, while more than half of local residents and two in five spectators and tournament volunteers were inspired to do more sport and physical activity generally, as a result of the tournament.
In addition, a total of 3,500 schools engaged in the tournament, over 2,300 volunteers recruited and trained as part of the tournament, 7,800 girls and women were newly registered and playing in clubs across the nine host cities, with over 16,000 girls and women playing recreationally across the nine host cities.
Taking a look at the Barclays Women's Super League and Barclays Women's Championship, attendances are up by 227 per cent and 86 per cent on last season respectively. That means almost 348,000 fans have passed through the turnstiles in the Barclays Women's Super League in the first half of the 2022/23 season, with nearly 59,000 in the Barclays Women's Championship.
Both league attendance records have broken (47,367 at Arsenal and 11,137 at Sheffield United) and half of all Barclays Women's Super League and Barclays Women's Championship clubs have broken an individual club and/or stadium record so far this season.
There was a record Vitality Women's FA Cup Final attendance of 49,094 in May and a peak BBC audience of 2m for the fixture. Sky Sports' highest match peak of this season is 495,000 viewers for Liverpool vs Everton in September, while the FA Player saw record numbers with Arsenal's win over Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening day of the season streamed live by 23,366 fans.
The Barclays Women's Super League is now the most followed women's professional football league in the world with over 1.55m followers across social channels.
Moving on to participation, from June to December 2022, there has been a five per cent increase in female affiliated clubs, a nine per cent increase in female registered football teams and a 15 per cent increase in female youth teams. There has also been a 2.5 per cent increase in female players registered from September to December 2022 and interest in women's football is up 12 per cent amongst girls aged 5-16 in England.
There has been a 196 per cent increase in women's and girls' football session bookings through the England Football 'FindFootball' tool and 150,000 girls are now registered to take part in next year's Let Girls Play 'Biggest Ever Football Session' on International Women's Day (March 8) supporting the Barclays Girls' Football School Partnerships by England Football and the ambition for girls to have equal access.
Meanwhile, there has been a 21 per cent increase in female registered referees across all levels since October 2021, while the number of female coaches working in affiliated female teams is up 75 per cent compared to the same point last year. There are now more than double the number of FA Community Champions who identify and support new female coaches.
In terms of commercial growth, there are four new commercial partners in the women's and girls' game, taking the total commercial partners supporting the women's and girls' game to 25.
