Lucy Frazer is Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and is MP for South East Cambridgeshire.
Reaching the semi-finals in a World Cup is the stuff of dreams. This inspiring Lionesses team have so much momentum, and their successful run at the Women’s World Cup will hopefully continue on Wednesday when they meet Australia in a match to savour. I know the whole country will be cheering them on.
As Culture Secretary I watch the World Cup with two hats on. I not only see athletic skill and our national team doing us proud on the world stage. I see a generation of young people being inspired to get active, whether that’s to go all the way and become the next Alessia Russo or to just see what it is like to kick a ball around with friends.
This week, the evening after I had watched England beat Nigeria on penalties in the second round, I went to the National Theatre to watch Dear England. A play written by James Graham about Gareth Southgate’s outstanding management and the struggles and successes of England’s men’s football team.
The play was about the central role football plays in our national identity. How a big tournament grips the whole nation and often reflects how we feel about the country and how we feel about ourselves. The hope. The expectation. The pressure. And the impact that has on the team, and on the players as individuals.
It made me watch Saturday morning’s quarter final between England and Colombia in a different way.
The women’s team – as chronicled in Dear England – had to wait for the men to finish playing until they could use the national training pitch. That was 2018.
Within four years of having access to the football pitch the women’s team won the European championships. In the play the Lionesses victory had its own short scene – where a player holding the trophy says where the men’s game suffers with high expectations, women faced the opposite.
Whilst those who had been following the team knew of their successes in past tournaments, the Euros victory woke many people up to the fact that England had this brilliant team, this incredible talent, able to achieve this highly prized success. The victory gripped the nation, their success lifted the national mood.
But we know success doesn’t come from nowhere.
It comes from a combination of training, effort, support and investment. Take one away, and success becomes near impossible.
As a Government, we are determined to lay the foundations for the future of football – and to make sure that in that futuire both the men and women’s games thrive. That’s why, at the grassroots, we’ve been investing £300 million in thousands of new and improved football and multi-sport facilities across the UK by 2025 – so the pitches can be there for aspiring players to develop and hone their skills.
Working will Gillian Keegan in the Department for Education, we are determined to ensure girls have equal access to football in schools by 2024 and are working with the FA and schools to deliver that, supported by over £600 million invested in PE and School Sports Premium.
The Government have also recently received Karen Carney’s review of Women’s Football on what more can be done to support and drive the growth of the women’s game and develop the talent pipeline to ensure generation after generation of world beating Lionesses. It is a thorough and serious report that lays out how the FA, the NewCo, the clubs and Government can ensure that the Women’s games grows in a sustainable way.
Like Carney, we are clear that the recent success of women’s football is a defining moment in the game and it is not one we intend to shy away from. We need to make sure that the new generation of grassroots pitches offer equal access for men’s and women’s teams to play. We need to make sure – as the Carney review recommends – that we deliver on ensure equal access to football in schools and in after school clubs.
Not only does encouraging a generation of young girls to get active help the health of the nation, the growth in the Women’s Super League offers economic rewards too. Meanwhile the success of the England Women’s team cements our position on the sporting world stage and – as shown in Dear England – helps us as a country to feel pride.
Millie Bright said “We’re willing to go through absolutely anything to make the country proud”. This team has already made the whole country proud. We Conservatives should especially cheer at the success of English Women’s Football – as it exemplifies all of the values that we stand for: enterprise, hard work, aspiration.
As the England women’s team continue more than doing their bit on the pitch, we plan to keep doing ours – doing everything possible to support Women’s Football so we can watch our Lionesses roar on the world stage for generations to come.
Lucy Frazer is Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and is MP for South East Cambridgeshire.
Reaching the semi-finals in a World Cup is the stuff of dreams. This inspiring Lionesses team have so much momentum, and their successful run at the Women’s World Cup will hopefully continue on Wednesday when they meet Australia in a match to savour. I know the whole country will be cheering them on.
As Culture Secretary I watch the World Cup with two hats on. I not only see athletic skill and our national team doing us proud on the world stage. I see a generation of young people being inspired to get active, whether that’s to go all the way and become the next Alessia Russo or to just see what it is like to kick a ball around with friends.
This week, the evening after I had watched England beat Nigeria on penalties in the second round, I went to the National Theatre to watch Dear England. A play written by James Graham about Gareth Southgate’s outstanding management and the struggles and successes of England’s men’s football team.
The play was about the central role football plays in our national identity. How a big tournament grips the whole nation and often reflects how we feel about the country and how we feel about ourselves. The hope. The expectation. The pressure. And the impact that has on the team, and on the players as individuals.
It made me watch Saturday morning’s quarter final between England and Colombia in a different way.
The women’s team – as chronicled in Dear England – had to wait for the men to finish playing until they could use the national training pitch. That was 2018.
Within four years of having access to the football pitch the women’s team won the European championships. In the play the Lionesses victory had its own short scene – where a player holding the trophy says where the men’s game suffers with high expectations, women faced the opposite.
Whilst those who had been following the team knew of their successes in past tournaments, the Euros victory woke many people up to the fact that England had this brilliant team, this incredible talent, able to achieve this highly prized success. The victory gripped the nation, their success lifted the national mood.
But we know success doesn’t come from nowhere.
It comes from a combination of training, effort, support and investment. Take one away, and success becomes near impossible.
As a Government, we are determined to lay the foundations for the future of football – and to make sure that in that futuire both the men and women’s games thrive. That’s why, at the grassroots, we’ve been investing £300 million in thousands of new and improved football and multi-sport facilities across the UK by 2025 – so the pitches can be there for aspiring players to develop and hone their skills.
Working will Gillian Keegan in the Department for Education, we are determined to ensure girls have equal access to football in schools by 2024 and are working with the FA and schools to deliver that, supported by over £600 million invested in PE and School Sports Premium.
The Government have also recently received Karen Carney’s review of Women’s Football on what more can be done to support and drive the growth of the women’s game and develop the talent pipeline to ensure generation after generation of world beating Lionesses. It is a thorough and serious report that lays out how the FA, the NewCo, the clubs and Government can ensure that the Women’s games grows in a sustainable way.
Like Carney, we are clear that the recent success of women’s football is a defining moment in the game and it is not one we intend to shy away from. We need to make sure that the new generation of grassroots pitches offer equal access for men’s and women’s teams to play. We need to make sure – as the Carney review recommends – that we deliver on ensure equal access to football in schools and in after school clubs.
Not only does encouraging a generation of young girls to get active help the health of the nation, the growth in the Women’s Super League offers economic rewards too. Meanwhile the success of the England Women’s team cements our position on the sporting world stage and – as shown in Dear England – helps us as a country to feel pride.
Millie Bright said “We’re willing to go through absolutely anything to make the country proud”. This team has already made the whole country proud. We Conservatives should especially cheer at the success of English Women’s Football – as it exemplifies all of the values that we stand for: enterprise, hard work, aspiration. As the England women’s team continue more than doing their bit on the pitch, we plan to keep doing ours – doing everything possible to support Women’s Football so we can watch our Lionesses roar on the world stage for generations to come.