Former Lionesses captain Carol Thomas has tipped England to lay claim to the Women’s World Cup this summer and underlined the crucial impact another major tournament triumph would reap on the country’s grassroots game.
Less than 24 hours after the Wembley final, the Lionesses penned an open letter to the Tory leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss spelling out demands for the progression of women’s football.
In March, the government heeded the calls of Sarina Wiegman’s squad as the government pledged a multimillion-pound funding package to provide equal access to all sports in PE for boys and girls in England, alongside new rules that schools must deliver at least two hours of PE each week and that girls and boys should be able to play the same sports in lessons and after-school clubs in a bid to increase participation amongst girls in sport, a key driving point of the Lionesses’ letter.
The pledge marked another significant milestone in the Lionesses’ ambition to cement a “legacy” following Euro2022’s success. In the last year since England’s 2-1 victory over Germany, women’s football attendance records have routinely been toppled across the country, including the new world record set for a domestic match at this year’s FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United.
And Thomas, England’s second-ever women’s captain with 56 caps across an 11-year career, believes the correct steps are being taken in achieving the Lionesses’ legacy but underlined that more work remains to be done from the ground-up, with another Lionesses’ triumph critical in sustaining momentum.
“I think there’s still improvement,” Thomas told The Mirror after winning Sports Choice at the inaugural Women’s Football Awards. “We do a lot for grassroots. I’m the club ambassador for Hull City Ladies and getting it into schools on a regular basis and grassroots football is a great feat still to do.
“But I think it’s going in the right direction and I think if the Lionesses do win, which I’m sure they will do, it will just push it further and further.”
The Lionesses are one of the tournament’s favourites heading into the summer’s showpiece event. Of the 31 matches played under Wiegman, England have fallen to only one defeat, a friendly match against Australia in the final international break before the summer.
And after ending England’s 56-year wait for a major tournament trophy, the Lionesses are bidding to seize a first-ever Women’s World Cup trophy.
Wiegman announced her 23-player World Cup squad on Wednesday, and while taliswomen Leah Williamson and Beth Mead will miss the tournament due to injury, Thomas did not waver in her conviction that the Lionesses will once again spend their summer hoisting an historic trophy into the air.
“Even with the injuries I think they will go and do it. They’ve got a great coach in Sarina, and great backroom staff,” she said.
Thomas made her international debut in 1974 at the tender age of 19 and became the first English woman to reach 50 caps for the Lionesses, as well as captain the side 50 times. Earlier this year, Thomas, along with 59 others, were given their legacy caps as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Lionesses last November.
“The men had been getting them since 1886,” Thomas said, recalling her caps being handwoven by a woman in Hull. “From when I started, how difficult it was in the 70s, playing women’s football to where it is now, it’s just brilliant. And myself and the women that I played with are just so proud that we were there as that small cog in the beginning to help the Lionesses get to where they are today to be honest.”
England’s World Cup campaign begins on 21 July as they face Haiti in their opening group stage match.
