ON SUNDAY night, England beat Germany 2-1 on home soil at Wembley stadium, and simultaneously shattered the glass ceiling.

The scenes proved incredibly emotional, not only for the players and the fans, but for those striving towards women’s equality. As a female sports editor, I feel particularly proud to be a woman in sport at this time, and must draw attention to the fact that although many publications have covered this tournament, the Morning Star has consistently uplifted female voices and pioneered coverage of women’s sport in the past and the present. The world is finally taking notice and giving credit where it has always been due.

Despite the delight of the nation and every positive that can come from this triumph to further elevate women in sport, it is deeply important to recognise the track record of poor treatment and inequality faced by those in women’s football – from funding issues, to lack of encouragement and recognition from the wider footballing community.

Former Lioness and pundit Alex Scott was right to shed light on some of these issues after the win. Speaking to Gabby Logan, she said: “Gabby, let's just remind ourselves as well, back in 2018, we were begging people to host in their stadiums a women’s game for this Euros.

“So many people said no, I hope you are all looking at yourselves right now because you weren’t brave enough to see what could have been.”

Something that stuck out to me was the obvious lack of diversity in the England team – in fact, it’s one of the only things I’d change. I, and I’m sure most other fans, want to see a diverse starting XI that reflects Britain’s population more accurately. 

Former Lionesses defender Anita Asante believes the pathway into the elite women’s game has to be reformed to achieve greater diversity, with just three of the 23 members of Wiegman’s Euro 2022 squad from black, Asian or mixed heritage backgrounds.

Writing in the Guardian, Asante said: “Young girls who cannot see anyone who looks like they do lack heroines to emulate – and that matters.”

She called for a more imaginative approach to scouting in urban and inner-city areas, and for more resources to be assigned to the scouting network in the women’s game. 

This is something that needs to be listened to, and greatly improved on. It’s all well and good young girls realising that they too can break into and change the patriarchal realms of sport — but representation matters, and everyone should have someone to look up to who looks like them. 

A while ago, I watched an interview with Manchester United’s Ella Toone, who also scored the fantastic opener on Sunday night. The forward was asked about her footballing heroes, and she referenced both Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo. It made me think how much I look forward to the day when a future Lioness is asked the same question, and she says “Ella Toone” or “Nikita Parris.” The Euros have made that possible.

Many female fans are put off watching football as they can find the environment intimidating (usually due to sexism). For those who are interested in the game, I recommend following This Fan Girl on Instagram. They are a community and platform that organise meet-ups in a number of cities where you can watch football with other like-minded females — a great opportunity to make new friends, and to enjoy sport in a safe and welcoming environment.

Once the excitement dies down, I urge everyone to go out and support women’s football this season, at whatever level. Take your daughters along, sisters along, dads along, best friends along.

I also strongly urge the media to build on the groundwork that has already been laid out in recent years. Take risks. Make at least half of your pundits women. The Lionesses have proved when carrying out media duties that you can do your talking on the pitch, but they also have interesting things to say about the game — and we want to hear it. Not enough is being done to achieve greater equality, and these things make a difference.