Parris impressed by growth of women's football as Euros begins
The Brighton & Hove Albion striker attended the Big Football Day this weekend in London – a grassroots football celebration delivered across England by The FA and supported by The National Lottery. The National Lottery have invested £6 billion into grassroots sport over the last 30 years – changing the game for women's and girls' football.
The event is to celebrate EURO 2025 this summer and to increase female participation, with clubs being asked to open their doors to host a Big Football Day during the month of July. The day will bring the community together and people can pop down to their local clubs to get involved in female taster sessions for all ages, match screenings, fun football festivities and more.
It is vastly different from Parris' introduction to the game that saw her form her own girls' team as opportunities did not exist at the time.
'There weren't many opportunities like this, and I started my own girls' team for Kingsley United when I could no longer play with the boys,' the 31-year-old said.
'At that time when you were 11-plus, you could not play with boys, so I had to create my own with family, friends and whoever walked past the park with a dog, parent, I took them in.
'It is so nice to see so many girls' teams playing here.
'It is so different, it is lovely to see so many young people playing and they are all girls' teams. When I was younger it was mixed or lads I played with.
'It is so nice that there are initiatives happening all round the country and young girls playing, one of these could be a Euros star in the future.'
Parris missed out on selection for England's Euros squad having been a part of the triumphant team in 2022.
And while she said there would always be mixed emotions for the Liverpool native, Parris is hoping they keep a hold of the trophy.
The 2022 victory saw the number of women and girls participating in football skyrocket, with the numbers more than doubling.
The day began at AFC Leyton – one of the UK's biggest and most successful independent women's football clubs.
AFC Leyton has built everything from scratch, becoming a shining example of grassroots success and a proven talent pipeline, with players progressing to the likes of West Ham, Chelsea, Spurs and London City Lionesses.
The afternoon continued at Central Park in Newham for a festival-style Big Football Day event, hosted by The FA and supported by The National Lottery.
Over 100 girls took part in a mix of taster sessions, recreational football, walking football and community fun – culminating in a live screening of England's match at 8pm, surrounded by DJs, activations, food, and more.
And Parris hopes the same excitement, explosion of interest and growth will happen again for women's football in the UK, no matter the result for the Lionesses.
She added: 'To continue the legacy of growing women's football, women's sport across the country and across the world.
'We want the game to continue to grow at all different levels. We want parity in the game, that ultimately comes from time, resources, and support.'
Big Football Day is a grassroots football celebration delivered across England by The FA and supported by The National Lottery.
Whether you're playing for fun, for fitness or for friendship, football is a place where girls can grow in confidence, feel part of a team and realise they're Made for This Game.
With the continued support of The National Lottery, The FA is working to ensure football is truly for all, with over £6 billion invested in grassroots sport across the UK over 30+ years – changing the game for women and girls' football/
And the FA's National Development Manager for Women's and Girls' Pathways, Alice Kemspki said; 'Big Football Day is one of our key activations across the women's and girls' game to try and use the major tournament and harness the moment to drive participation locally and in the grassroots game.
'We have 200 plus clubs across the country opening their door to women and girls' doing a Big Football Day powered by the National Lottery in their own areas.'
The FA's Big Football Day, powered by The National Lottery, will run throughout the Euros events to encourage more women & girls to get into football. Thanks to over £6 billion invested into grassroots sport by National Lottery players, the game is growing stronger from the ground up. For more info visit: //englandfootball.com/bigfootballday
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The Sun
24 minutes ago
- The Sun
The more comical the action at women's Euros, the more woke BBC get – one pundit's pearl of wisdom was red card offence
A SIMPLE equation is at play with the BBC and ITV's coverage of the women's Euros – the funnier the football gets, the more earnest the pundits must become. To the point, when things go really haywire, they sound more like they're dissecting Garry Kasparov versus the Deep Blue chess computer than the latter stages of a football tournament. 7 7 7 A sly reference to the exquisite mayhem of the England/Sweden penalty shoot-out, in Zurich, on BBC1, which has to be a contender for the funniest ever climax to a quarter-final. Eventual winners England seemed determined to turn it into a Gentlest Back Pass contest, while the slightly more gung-ho Swedes were playing a game familiar to every nine-year-old boy on the planet: Who can kick it the furthest? A challenge eventually ended by Smilla Holmberg, who nearly landed her effort on base camp at the Matterhorn. So long had this farce been going by that point, however, there was no time for the Beeb team to do anything more than agree with co- commentator Rachel Brown-Finnis's assessment that it had been a penalty shoot-out, 'worthy of any final'. Final of what? She didn't say, but I'd like to believe Rachel was referring to the carnage of It's A Knockout's old pan-European spin-off Jeux Sans Frontieres. It seems unlikely, though, as absolutely everyone at the BBC and ITV is in a state of denial about this tournament's wretched quality, aided and abetted by dozens of useful media idiots who've cast themselves in the Sir Galahad role and will go to any credibility-knackering lengths to protect the honour of the women. A self-deceiving charade that reached new levels of condescension, in one broadsheet newspaper, after the Sweden game, when a journalist argued that gross incompetence wasn't so much the issue as 'goalkeepers improving'. You treat readers like mugs, you get the response you deserve, which in this case was the comment: 'You won't get laid trying to be their ally.' You're also missing an easy trick, though. For just as the great Jock Stein said, 'without the fans, football is nothing,' it's also nothing without laughter. And for once, I really know what I'm talking about here. For I have seen Scotland play in 31 countries and lose in seven different time zones, since 1986, and frankly it's only the laughter that's kept me going. It's the very last thing you'll hear on either channel in Switzerland though, where instead of taking the light-hearted approach they've gone to the extraordinarily controlling lengths of reinventing the pundit lexicon in an attempt to disguise what's really happening here. ITV's Karen Carney has a particularly grating habit of saying 'vertical pass' when she means forward, but the real blood-boiler is the BBC's maddening use of the T-word which made the quarter-final pre-match banter sound more like a cult meeting. Gabby Logan kicked it off by saying: ' Fara [Williams], an area you're worried about is the transition.' 'Yes, Sweden will much prefer the transitional game,' agreed Fara before Ellen White butted in to say: 'It's frustrating when you're conceding on that transition and Sweden really do like to play in that transition.' Which was the cue, apparently, for Jonas Eidevall to chip in with his observation that: 'If the game is played in transition, it's advantage Sweden.' At no point, however, did anyone ask: 'Transition? What the f*** is the transition?' A huge shame as someone would've been forced to admit it just means losing possession and the reason they were trying to blind us with science is because, in this tournament, it happens roughly every second or third pass. Pull at the honesty thread, everyone clearly believes, and the whole of women's football unravels. It's not the case, obviously. Viewers will watch football, no matter what the quality. Ten million tuned into ITV's coverage of the England/Italy semi-final, on Tuesday. Most of them, like me, probably praying it would end in more penalty shootout mayhem. It was narrowly avoided, sadly, but the night did at least benefit from the presence of Ian Wright and the absence of the terminally tedious Eni Aluko, who'd accused him of 'blocking women' from punditry jobs. Less gracious men than Wrighty would've told ITV to shove their invite, after they left him out of their original roster. But he was present, adding more passion, honesty and animation than the rest of them had managed in the previous 34 games combined. Given TV is so lost to the cult of woke, though, my worry now is it'll simply cut and paste the dull, pompous, dishonest, language-mangling insincerity of the women's game over to the blokes. Especially when Wrighty left a pregnant pause on Tuesday night. 'England can't quite find enough in . . . in . . . ' In the transition, Ian. The sacred bloody transition. Shaz: 'A dandelion.' Ben Shephard: 'Which letter that appears in the word for a song of praise known as a 'hymn' is silent when spoken out loud?' Richard: 'P.' And Impossible, Rick Edwards: 'Which settlement is situated at the southern tip of Loch Ness?' Callum was given the choice of 'A) Fort William' or 'C) Fort Augustus,' but chose 'B) Fort Lauderdale.' 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Times
38 minutes ago
- Times
Keira Walsh: Confidence is key to beating my Barcelona friends
England's hopes of a second consecutive European Championship title may rest on Keira Walsh. The holding midfielder often goes under the radar. She does not play a glamorous position, has an unassuming personality and her game is predicated on doing the unspectacular perfectly rather than highlights. That Walsh's first England goal came in her 83rd cap last April is fitting. For Sunday's Euro 2025 final against Spain in Basel, England need Walsh to be at her understated best. Their opponents are supreme in midfield, freakishly intelligent, and proven winners at the highest level. Walsh possesses these qualities too. Perhaps most importantly, she knows a secret or two. Walsh spent 2½ years at Barcelona — signing for a world-record fee at the time ($400,000) before joining Chelsea for £440,000 last January — so she is familiar with many of Spain's players. 'I've been asked several times in the last few years about them,' she said. 'They are incredible footballers.' Walsh, 28, is particularly aware of Spain's biggest strength: their midfield. Aitana Bonmatí, winner of the past two Ballons d'Or, scored the winner against Germany in the semi-finals by smartly feinting to create space before firing home from a tight angle. 'The way she let the ball go through, most players in that position wouldn't even think about shooting and automatically cross,' Walsh said of her former Barcelona team-mate. 'But I've played with Aitana a lot and know that she's always thinking about things that other players don't. She will have looked where the 'keeper was and tried to place it. It was a fantastic goal.' Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Bonmatí is not Spain's only generationally talented midfielder. Alexia Putellas, another Barcelona superstar, won the two Ballons d'Or before Bonmati's double. Patri Guijarro occupies Walsh's deeper position and is the hipster's choice for Barcelona's best midfielder. Mariona Caldentey, with whom Walsh also played at Barcelona, has since moved to Arsenal and was the Women's Super League player of the season for 2024-25. 'The Spanish are one of the best possession teams in the world,' Walsh said. 'Aitana's an incredible player, but if you try to nullify her, Patri's been one of the best players at this tournament. So you can focus on Aitana, then you've got Patri, Alexia and Mariona.' England can expect long periods chasing the game on Sunday, so how can they cope? 'It's about being patient when we don't have the ball, not panicking and not getting frustrated,' Walsh said. 'We just have to be comfortable defending.' They will also have to channel the 'proper England' mantra that has underpinned their tournament. Grit, resilience and total commitment will be required against a technically immaculate team. 'The English mentality has been going through all our games and that's not going to change in the final,' Walsh said. 'If anything, we're going to be more proud to be representing our country.' Yet Walsh believes England cannot simply defend gallantly. Spain outclassed them in the 2023 World Cup final, in which England were seldom able to gain a foothold, despite the narrow 1-0 scoreline. The Lionesses were then overwhelmed by Spain in a 2-1 defeat in Barcelona last month. 'One thing I would take from the previous games against Spain is we've not been as confident as we could be on the ball,' Walsh said. 'That's also one of our strengths. We've got unbelievable players on the ball. We need to take more pride in that and keep the ball for longer periods.' Walsh has had a solid tournament. She has started every game, was player of the match against Wales and scored her second England goal against France. Off the pitch, she has decompressed with the help of Jill Scott, the former England midfielder and a fellow Euro 2022 winner. Scott has no official title but is a crucial morale-booster, with her and Walsh going out for dinner and talking about anything except football. The midfielder is also happy to be back living in England, having struggled to acclimatise in Barcelona. Nevertheless, she remains close to her old team-mates and is pleased to see them enjoying the tournament after their 2023 World Cup campaign was plagued by internal tensions and the controversy around Luis Rubiales's non-consensual kiss of Jenni Hermoso, which led to the resignation of the Spanish football federation's president. 'As a friend, fellow footballer and human being, I just want them to enjoy the game,' Walsh said. The bond with Sunday's opponents was forged during Walsh's struggles in Barcelona. She will always be grateful for their kindness, but that will not stop her competing furiously, relaying insider information and taking on that formidable midfield. 'I was used to living 20 minutes away from my family and always lived in Manchester, so at times it was difficult,' Walsh said of her days in Catalonia. 'But that's why I've got so many good friends on the Spanish team, because they always looked after me. 'Irene Paredes always invited me around for dinner with her family. When I wasn't feeling great, I was with Mariona. Those girls really spent time taking care of me. 'I've got a lot to say thanks for, but on Sunday we're rivals and I want to win.' Euro 2025 finalSunday, 5pmTV Live on BBC1 and ITV
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
England's unashamed icon: Chloe Kelly renews starring role at Euro 2025
It was Chloe Kelly's wedding anniversary on Thursday. We know this because she posted about it to her 1 million Instagram followers, because everyone saw her personalised shin pad adorned with her wedding photo, and because she joked last week that she still hadn't got her husband, Scott, a card. But then Kelly has always had a rare gift for catching the eye. Her shirt-waving celebration at Wembley remains the defining image of the Euro 2022 triumph. Her trademark headband renders her instantly recognisable in a squad full of above-average-height blond women. Her hop-skip penalty run-up is unique. In a profession where many are naturally wary of being seen to court attention, Kelly is luxuriantly comfortable with being the focus of your gaze. As her teammate Esme Morgan puts it: 'She just doesn't really care what people think.' Being England's unashamed icon and an effortless content generator comes with clear off-pitch benefits. Be real: who here can name the wedding date of any other Lioness? Who here can imitate a typical Lauren Hemp penalty run-up? How many Jess Park goal celebrations have you seen commemorated in a tattoo? But of course the benefits can be felt on the field too, and so far this month England have been merrily reaping them. There is a counterfactual history of England's Euro 2025 to be written in which Kelly does not post her astonishing social media tirade against Manchester City at the end of January. In which she does not get the move to Arsenal that rescues her career, does not win back her England place, does not rescue the quarter-final against Sweden or score the winning goal against Italy. And – quite frankly – it is a history in which England's players are watching Sunday's final from their sofas. Frozen out by Gareth Taylor at Manchester City, out of contract in the summer, handed one league start all season, Kelly was ready to walk away from the game. City were prepared to let her go on loan to Brighton. Kelly wanted to join Manchester United. City were unwilling to lose her to a rival. Result: deadlock. And with just hours remaining of the January transfer window, a deadlock Kelly realised she was going to have to break herself. 'While I can't control someone's negative behaviour towards me, I can control how long I am prepared to tolerate it,' Kelly wrote in an Instagram post very clearly self-penned. 'To be dictated whom I can and can't join with only four months left of the football season is having a huge impact on not only my career but my mental wellbeing. Our dreams can be crushed while we live in silence.' Kelly's outspokenness was immediately rewarded with a last-gasp move to Arsenal. And yet to burn her bridges with City so publicly was a decision fraught with risk, but also a measure of her need to dictate terms rather than have them dictated to her, to act rather than let things drift, to determine her own fate. After the Italy game, someone asked Kelly who had made her the person she is today. 'Myself,' she answered. But of course this will surprise nobody familiar with Kelly's game. Aged 20, she stunned Arsenal by leaving permanently for Everton, walking out on her first club and her home town in search of first-team football. In her first full season at Everton she played through an ankle injury as the club languished near the bottom of the WSL. It was, as she would later admit, 'selfish because I should have let someone else play who was 100%. But unselfish because I needed to help the team.' It was telling, too, that when she was dropped by Sarina Wiegman for the February internationals, she told the media she would 'fight to get my shirt back'. Not the shirt. My shirt. And even if Wiegman's decision was quickly reversed after an injury to Beth Mead, there was a brutal clarity there, a simple task with a simple outcome. Problem: you're not playing enough. Solution: start playing more. Bonus solution: win Champions League. Of course, before Sunday's final there will be significant pressure on Wiegman to find a place for Kelly – and her revelatory Arsenal teammate Michelle Agyemang – in the starting XI. 'Don't fix what isn't broken, it's working,' the former Lioness Rachel Daly said on her podcast on Wednesday, a statement that raised the question: is it really working? But Daly did also make a good point about the value of players who can change a game late on, when legs are tiring and the stakes are at their terrifying highest. Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion And perhaps Kelly's particular skills – pinpoint crosses into the area, quick feet, dead-ball deliveries, a burst of pace, a powerful shot, the ability to ride challenges – are particularly suited to the later stages of games. She grew up playing in the five-a-side cages of west London, a true street footballer. 'She seems to thrive on those moments when the team needs her,' Morgan says. They call themselves the 'finishers', the 'positive clique', complete with finger-clicking celebration and even their own WhatsApp group. And whatever situation England find themselves in on Sunday, they will need Kelly, just as they will need Agyemang, Aggie Beever-Jones, Grace Clinton. It is why Wiegman spends so much time working with the fringe players, why the starters often make a point of staying out after training to support them while they do their extra fitness work. At the start of this year, you would have got pretty long odds on Kelly playing a starring role this summer. But of course Kelly has previous here too. Three years ago she missed almost an entire season with a cruciate ligament injury, and didn't take the field again until April. We all know how that summer ended. Kelly knows better than most than it's not how you start. It's how you finish.
