UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 had ambitions of being a record-breaking tournament with the power to inspire the next generation of players and fans, this was certainly achieved in crowd sizes and viewership throughout the tournament and in the legacy that it’s left in participation numbers of players, coaches, referees and clubs.

Three key objectives of the tournament’s legacy programme:

• EQUAL access for all girls to play football in school
• DIVERSE workforce of coaches, referees and local leaders delivering and organising football for their communities
• INCLUSIVE, safe and welcoming environments for every woman and girl to play competitive or recreational grassroots football, irrespective of ability, age or ambition

Thanks to National Lottery and Sport England funding, each of the nine host cities (London, Trafford, Manchester, Sheffield, Rotherham, Milton Keynes, Wigan & Leigh, Brighton & Hove, and Southampton) was awarded approximately £100,000 to address gender disparity in the sport and create recreational women’s football opportunities for their communities.

Nike also supported the legacy project by providing each host city post-tournament funding to escalate the work in equality, diversity and inclusion projects, to further deliver on legacy objectives and maximise the tournament’s impact

The legacy project’s ambition was to achieve the following impact by 2024 across the nine host cities:

• 120,000 more girls regularly playing football in school
• 20,000 more women playing football for fun, fitness and friendship
• 7,000 more women and girls playing competitive football in grassroots clubs
• 350 new FA-qualified female referees
• 300 new FA-qualified female coaches, with more than 1,000 women and girls completing The FA Playmaker supported by BT Award

With the formal tracking now concluded, the majority of these targets have been far surpassed nationally with the impact in Rotherham and Sheffield as follows:

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UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 legacy impact in Rotherham

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UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 legacy impact in Sheffield

This impact can be further seen with the following case studies that have taken place over the last couple of seasons…

FURD: 

• Football Unites Racism Divides (FURD) is a youth and social inclusion project, and charity based in Sheffield, England, who believe that football as a game brings people together and adds social value to society. 
• Specifically within the women’s football space, FURD break down barriers of exclusion and promote community cohesion through the use of sport. They offer free weekly football sessions for women and girls.
• While they began facilitating weekly sessions in 2013, they have been able to grow significantly since the women’s Euros: the group of participants has increased and diversified. They have also since added sessions for Desi women as well as refugee and asylum seekers.
• All sessions are hosted at their own facility U-Mix which is managed by FURD on behalf of Sheffield City Council. 
• Also ran the heritage project and have a mural in their facility.  

Silver Strikers:

• The first session to start through the legacy programme in Sheffield. 
• Founded in 2021, Silver Strikers was set up to enable older women to get involved in football. 
• Players at all levels are welcome and their ethos emphasises inclusivity. Participants include total beginners, people who have not kicked a ball since school, and older people who want to feel part of a team. Training takes place every Tuesday and includes skills coaching and matches. 
• The team is led by Gail Fletcher, who has subsequently become a UEFA C coach, a SHCFA disability ambassador, and the Play Your Way League (rec league) co-chair.
• Silver Strikers has grown from less than ten women being involved, to now having three 5-a-side teams in the Play Your Way league as well as playing in a 7-a-side league.
• Silver Strikers have developed beyond just playing football, now putting on events to raise money for charity and organising social meetings for participants.

Active Mums:

• The initiative began when a coach at Millmoor Ladies FC, Megan Wylde, noticed all the parents on the touchline looking at their phones while their kids played football.
• She set up some bootstyle activity classes for parents - these ran alongside the children’s football sessions for their children and aimed to get parents to be more active and involved with their local club. As the sessions developed, they became more about playing and learning about football. 
• It started with just a few attendees, but now there is a group of over 40 parents who regularly attend the sessions. All have become more engaged in the club as a whole - one parent even has gone on to become the clubs’ welfare officer. 
• The group has since become a team called Memo Warriors, who now play in the Play Your Way League in Sheffield.