This time, it's serious. Even the military band outside Buckingham Palace, with their eye-catching fur hats and crimson-red tunics, played "Sweet Caroline," the informal anthem sung by English football in the event of victory. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also offered his encouragement: "Just one more match [to win the Cup]...". BoxPark – the group that runs three large venues specializing in match broadcasting, including one next to London's Wembley stadium – sold out its 2,500 tickets... in eight minutes. The final of the Women's World Cup pits England against Spain at midday (Paris time) on Sunday, August 20. The nation that prides itself on having invented football is holding its breath.
In Wirral, near Liverpool, Sarah Laing-Gibbens and her teammates were preparing to descend en masse on the Railway, their local pub. "We're going with the whole team, our kids, our families. It's going to be crazy." It's been three years since this mother of two started kicking a ball around. "I loved the sport when I was young, but I'd been told it wasn't for girls and that I should concentrate on netball [a type of basketball] and field field hockey."
Today, the woman who never misses a Manchester City match was savoring the revenge of women's football. England's men's team hasn't won the World Cup since 1966, failing every four years despite – or perhaps because of – the inordinate expectations of an entire country. "If you want the job done properly, just ask women," retorted Laing-Gibbens, hoping for the triumph of the Lionesses this Sunday.
50-something Laing-Gibbens's story summed up that of the "national sport" across the English Channel, which for a long time was confined to men. But over the past decade or so, this imbalance has started to change. In 2019, her daughter, who was six at the time, watched some Women's World Cup matches. "She wanted to join a team and I spent many long hours by the pitch cheering her on. Then I also joined a team with players aged between 28 and 72." Her club was initially called Girls with Balls, before being renamed – to be a little more politically correct – Wirral Valkyries.
Cathy Patterson is the coach and founder. "Ten years ago, there were six of us at training - it was very tough." Today, the squad has 35 players and 40 women on the waiting list. "I received two more after the semi-final [of the 2023 World Cup against Australia]."
But the women's football craze is still light years behind the men's game. "We were in a pub for the last match, and it wasn't decorated with any flags. For a men's World Cup, it would be covered in them," lamented Patterson. "I see lots of people jumping on the bandwagon now, suddenly interested in women's football thanks to the World Cup."
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