Tractor Girls midfielder Eloise King believes England winning Euro 2022 will do wonders for the women’s game.
A crowd of 87,192 watched the Lionesses beat Germany 2-1 after extra time in the final at Wembley on Sunday to carry off the trophy, England’s first triumph in a major competition since former Blues boss Sir Alf Ramsey led the men’s side to the 1966 World Cup. In addition, 17.4 million viewers tuned in on TV.
"The tournament was fantastic,” King told iFollow Ipswich. "Seeing those numbers in the stadium just wowed me.
"I’ve been to watch England play before and you’re getting crowds of 10,000 or 20,000. Seeing 90,000 fans there, which you often don’t even get at men’s games, was incredible.
"Joe [Sheehan, Town Women’s manager] put a message in our group chat saying 'I don’t think we realise how massive this could be for women’s football as a whole'.
"Everyone is talking about it. When you go on social media, it is everywhere. It’s going to do wonders for the women’s game.
"The opportunity can't be missed. In terms of the growth of women’s football, it’s so important to ride the wave. I think we, as a club, will do that and also be very good at it.
"We’ve have always had a good crowd at [the AGL Arena in] Felixstowe. We’ve been followed home and away brilliantly in the time I’ve been here.
"Like I said, we’ve seen a lot of people on social media asking about when our games are, so hopefully we can see even more people supporting us.”
Regarding Sunday’s match, the 20-year-old added: "What a game! We were all excited, buzzing and amazed by it all.
"I was out in Ipswich with all of the girls. I was a bit nervous because it was England versus Germany and you never know what is going to happen, but we did it and I was so pleased for all of the girls.”