Lionesses international tournaments sees more Essex girls taking up football
The England Women's team face Wales in their UEFA Euros match this evening
An Essex football coach tells us young girls interest in playing football has increased since the Lionesses successful performances at major international tournaments.
England woman continue their Euros feat tonight and victory over Wales will see the defending champions progress to the knockout stages in Switzerland.
Steve Arrowsmith is the head coach for girl's football at Leigh Ramblers FC in Southend:
"When the Lionesses won the Euros in 2022, it had a massive impacts of players entering the female game especially at foundation and youth level.
"That's grown over the last few years especially when they got through to the World Cup final, when they lost to Spain.
"I think the Euros is more important than the World Cup in terms of viewership because of time differences.
"We can tune in to the Euros more easily because of the times of the matches, it's more family friendly.
"I do think the Lionesses are under a bit of pressure to perform and repeat previous performances.
"They'll be fully aware of the role that they have to play in pushing women's football even more in this country.
A win against Wales this evening will secure Sarina Wiegman's side qualification for the quarter finals.
England recovered from defeat in their Euro 2025 opener against France to beat the Netherlands on Wednesday 9 July and revive their hopes.
Mr Arrowsmith added: "there are still many barriers stopping the female sport thriving".
"There's a real shortage of coaches beyond the foundation stage going into youth people.
"We see quite a big drop off during and after girls' studies for their GCSEs.
"I think there needs to be a bit more research by the FA in terms of what it is that motivates girls to continue to play football, and then we can adjust accordingly.
England take on Wales in St. Gallen at 20:00 BST in their final group-stage match.
The Netherlands, in third place on three points, face France at the same time in Basel, with both teams still able to qualify.