Let’s back the girls in UEFA Women’s Euro 2013
In need of a ‘football fix’? Well not long to wait for a feast of international football.
Sweden host the 2013 UEFA Women’s Euro tournament, which starts on Wednesday July 10th and concludes with the final at Friends Arena on Sunday July 28th which expects to attract an attendance of 50,000.
The competition has come a long way from its modest beginnings; The then named ‘European Competition for Women's Football’ began in 1982 with sixteen nations on the road to the 1984 final between England and Sweden which was played over two legs and won on penalties by Sweden.
The tournament has gone from strength to strength with more and more interest being shown, and in 1991, official status was bestowed on the tournament, hence it’s rebranding as the ‘UEFA European Women's Championship’.
By 1995 there were twenty nine teams competing and games were raised from eighty minutes duration to ninety in line with men’s football. In 1997 the format changed with the introduction of an eight team final with group stages for qualification. The tournament was held bi annually until 2001 since when it has been held every four years
The 2013 Final tournament sees twelve teams competing for the trophy in seven venues
The three groups are:
Group A Matches played at Gamla Ullevi (Gothenburg) and Örjans Vall (Halmstad),
Denmark
Finland
Italy
Sweden
Group B Matches played at Öster Arena (Vaxjo) and Kalmar Arena (Kalmar),
Germany
Iceland
Netherlands
Norway
Group C Matches played at Nya Parken (Norrkoping) and Linköping Arena (Linkoping).
England
France
Russia
Spain
The top two from each group and the two highest third-placed sides qualify for the quarter-finals, from when the competition is a straight knockout.
The quarter-finals will be played in Halmstad, Vaxjo, Linkoping and Kalmar and the semi-finals at Gothenburg and Norrkoping. The final will be at the new national Friends Arena in Solna.
Italy play Finland on the opening day at 17.00 (BST) with Sweden taking on Denmark at 19.30 (BST) at Gamla Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg. The host’s opening game will officially launch the competition in the presence of Sweden’s Prince Daniel who is patron of the tournament.
England are the only home nations team to qualify for the finals and Hope Powell’s team’s first game is on Friday 12th July (19.30 BST) against Spain. The team then takes on Russia on Monday 15th before rounding off the group stage against France on Thursday 18th July
The England men’s senior team has been lambasted in recent years for appearing to be overpaid, arrogant underachievers. Their counterparts in the women’s national team however cannot be accused of being driven by money.
The central contracts for the players rose in January 2013 by £4000 from £16, 000 to £20,000. Players’ union chief Gordon Taylor is quoted as saying the pervious package offer of £18,000 was ‘embarrassing’ pointing out the fact that many top Premiership players earn more in a day!
Many of the England players have had to supplement their income from football by taking on other part time jobs:
Eniola Aluko, the England striker who has recently returned to Chelsea for her second stint with the club made her England debut at age 17, works part time as a lawyer
Rachel Williams, the Birmingham City forward has earned her recall into the senior squad, scoring her first international goal in the 4-0 UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying victory over Slovenia, subsidizes her income from football by working as a plasterer
Sophie Bradley works part time as a care worker. Bradley, the Lincoln and England defender told BBC Sport that if players earned more money, they would be able to focus on training without the distractions or stress of work. She also argued that players should be rewarded for the part they had played in English football's recent success.
The pay scale does not reflect the sport’s increased popularity: more than 70,000 attended at Wembley Stadium during the 2012 Olympics to witness Great Britain’s win over Brazil
The England team has enjoyed some success over recent times, they qualified for the Euro finals unbeaten and were runners up to Germany in 2009 final.
Germany are the most successful team in the competition winning seven out of eight successive tournaments ,and were in fact so successful that in 2001 they got to keep the previous trophy, having won the UEFA
European Women’s Championship for the third consecutive time. Germany are now looking for their sixth success in a row and may prove to be formidable opponents for any team to take on!
Fans won’t have to miss out on any of the action as BBC Two and BBC Three are showing sixteen games live: BBC Three programmes will start at 7pm and include highlights of the earlier games before live coverage of the 7.30pm kick off begins.
You can also follow the Three Lion’s progress on BBC Radio 5 live or 5 live Sports Extra as all of England’s matches will be broadcast live
Let’s get behind the Lions as they play with passion and humility and return some pride back into English football!!