EDITOR’S VIEW: The Pride of England
Pride. The backbone of English society. A word associated with every sportsman and women who wears the three lions on their chest and every loyal supporter slathered in face paint and wrapped in the flag of St George. And a word now associated with women’s football and the World Cup squad of 2015.
Despite a disappointing end to the campaign following a fluke last minute own goal against Japan, Laura Bassett was the epitome of pride for Mark Sampson’s Lionesses in Canada.
The Notts County defender put in performance after performance during both the group stages and knockout rounds, starting every match for Sampson and conceding just four goals before the semi-final. And as she crumbled in the arms of her team-mates at the final whistle a thousand English hearts broke with hers.
Undoubtedly now, what was a historic tournament for England women will be overshadowed by that one mistake and bitterly disappointing exit, but I for one will be urging the public to look past that and concentrate on the true winner in this story – football.
I joined my local football team at the age of 7 and since then have beared witness to the rise and rise of the women’s game. Sell-out crowds, televised matches, female role models and more importantly an exceptional effort by the national team on the world stage.
To reach the semi-finals is a phenomenal achievement for any England team of any discipline and the squad of 2015 will without question go down in the history books. They have inspired, not only fellow females to take up the sport, but also male counterparts to believe in the force that is women’s football and dare I say, even take a keen interest in the game.
The Lionesses didn’t deserve their defeat and we should be sat here talking about an upcoming final with the USA but, although they’ll still be hurting now, they have done more than they will ever know for women’s sport in the UK.
My various social media channels exploded with men, women, young and old talking about the World Cup and the England team. Many of my football mad friends tuned in to the tournament to watch Sampson’s side for the first time ever. TV and newspapers were dominated by the Lionesses’ success and these are the things we need to take away with us from Canada.
We have to remember the competition is of course still not over and a victory over the world’s number one ranked team would be a far more fitting end for the mighty England women but, win or lose, a first-ever semi-final and 1.6 million staying up until the early hours. Now that’s something to be proud of.