A summer of sport

4th July 2025

It’s that time of the year when there are an incredible number of sporting events taking place. You know that I love watching (and occasionally participating in) sport. And it’s that bumper time of year.

We have a fantastic test cricket series taking place. We have the annual Wimbledon jamboree – not my cup of tea but I know that some people get quite obsessed by it at this time of year. There is the World Club Championship taking place in the United States. The British Open golf championship is just on the horizon. We have Silverstone and the British Grand Prix Over this weekend. You may be casting your eyes ‘down under’ to the Lions tour. What an array of events. But the event which will top the billing this year is the Women’s Euro 25 tournament.

The approach to women’s football in the UK has shifted immeasurably over the last few years. Even before the 2021 Euros there was a growing understanding of and love for women’s football. Wonderfully now we can talk about this Euros tournament in the same way, with the same passion, as we would any other international football tournament.

The tournament has started well with some interesting if not unpredictable, scorelines. Yet again, the Spanish look incredibly strong. Hope this weekend turns to the fortunes of the ‘home nations’ teams, England and Wales. Both have their first games in the so-called (and every tournament has one of these) ‘group of death’. As we would always say (unless your Welsh) – Come on England!

I’d also just like to make reference to the wonderful job that the BBC do in covering this sport and this tournament. I know that it is a much-maligned organisation these days and it didn’t cover itself with a great deal of glory with some of its coverage of the Glastonbury Festival, just last weekend, but its approach to women’s football has been incredibly strong. It reports on the game and this tournament, as it would any other game and/or tournament. It does not, either through the presentation, the coverage, the presenters or the pundits treat this competition in any other way as it would treat any other football entertainment. In that case, it gives, not only the viewer, but the participants, a sense of the tournament’s importance and value.

Well done BBC.

The 2021 tournament inspired an incredible number of people to consider taking up playing football, or sport in general. This tournament will do the same and should take the understanding of the women’s game to the next level. I hope that we can all enjoy the next month of tournament football and get behind our teams – if you’re Welsh or English. Although our schools and college will finish before the tournament ends there will be something, I hope, of a bounce within the pupil/student population. I hope that all of our children and young people, but especially the girls and young women can feel inspired and empowered by this tournament and watching their heroes.

‘I don’t call myself a women’s footballer; I say I’m a footballer.’  Lucy Bronze
‘Inclusivity is not something that can be achieved simply by saying the right things. It requires meaningful actions and a strong commitment to making it a reality.’ Sarina Wiegman