What comes next for Wales after Euro 2025?

Yahoo

a day ago

Wales, who were competing in a first major tournament, have played less international matches than Netherlands international Sherida Spitse [Getty Images]
For Wales women's football, the big question will now be, what comes next?
Wales' Euro 2025 adventure is over, but the hope is that it can have a transformative effect.
Underfunded and definitely underappreciated, the entire sport has been playing catch up for over 30 years, but now it feels like a moment of seismic possibility.
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Banned for 50 years, the refusal of the Football Association of Wales to sanction the women's side meant another 20 years in the doldrums until the first 'official game' was played in 1993.
The attempts to catch-up continue.
Wales' time in Switzerland in their first major tournament ended with a disappointing defeat to England, but the legacy of the achievement in simply qualifying for a major finals is tantalising.
"Being here for the first time and putting Wales on the biggest stage is a win for us," captain Angharad James said.
"Before we kicked a football, before we stepped off the plane, we spoke as a group and said we already won regardless of what happens."
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The fans: Wales win hearts in Switzerland, can they capitalise?
Wales' men qualifying for Euro 2016, their first major finals in 58-years, has transformed the way football has been viewed in Wales ever since.
Once undisputedly a rugby country, Wales' men's side are more than used to seeing 'sold out' signs at the Cardiff City Stadium and it is now more of a talking point when Wales don't qualify for a major finals than when they do.
The fervour of that support has not, however, translated to the women's side, until now.
Wales sold more tickets than two of their Euro 2025 group D opponents, Netherlands and France, with the Red Wall showing a commitment to Rhian Wilkinson's side that has previously been missing.
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Many supporters in Switzerland have attended their first women's football matches and the hope is that the visibility of the tournament will add interest in the women's game, with boss Rhian Wilkinson previously expressing disappointment that supporters prioritise watching the men's side.
The Welsh support in Switzerland has caught people's attention, both inside and outside of the Wales camp.
"The fans have been loving it, they have been superb this whole journey, they have been our 12th person," captain Angharad James reflected.
"The fans have given us so many special moments with the noise they have created, there have been times when all we've seen and heard is that Red Wall, just a sea of red.
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"Wales have been by far the best crowd that I've seen out in this Euros."
Wales' cap centurion Sophie Ingle revealed that after Wales defeat by the Netherlands, her former Chelsea teammate, Wieke Kaptein, messaged her to say how moving she found the rendition of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau.
Wales will now hope that support will translate to bigger crowds for home matches, with Wales' record attendance still not having even reached the 20,000 mark.
"Hopefully that's what it's going to do in so many ways," former Wales defender Danny Gabbidon said.
"The game is growing. Football now is the most popular sport that girls are playing in Wales.
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"That process has started, but it needs to continue. This is just the start for this team."
The players: Improved depth - but the end for Fishlock?
In a quite literal sense, Welsh women's football is 20 years behind the likes of England, having never played a sanctioned international until 1993 and the journey to being serious about women's football has been painfully slow.
It was only 20 years ago that the team almost ceased to exist again, with the side pulled out of Euro qualifying as it was cheaper to pay the fine for withdrawing than funding a qualifying campaign.
Things are vastly different now, with the women's team receiving equal pay to their male counterparts and sharing the same state-of-the-art training facilities, but it is still a period of transition in terms of Wales building the depth they need to regularly compete at major finals.
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Several lynchpins of the Wales side from the past decade have retired, including cap centurions Helen Ward, Loren Dykes and Natasha Harding – with striker Kayleigh Barton possibly the next to call time on her Wales career - though an increased focus on adding to their playing pool has seen the likes of Ceri Holland, Lois Joel and Hannah Cain switch their international allegiance from England to Wales.
Vastly improved funding at grassroots level should help with the talent pool in the future, but in the short-term Wales are going to have to start planning for life without their greatest ever player, Jess Fishlock.
Now 38, Euro 2025 has demonstrated that Fishlock is no longer able to influence games in quite the same way and it seems inevitable that her international retirement will be coming sooner rather than later.
"Her career spans the whole of Welsh history on the women's side," manager Rhian Wilkinson said about a player who has incredibly played in 67% of Wales' matches since 1993, despite only making her debut in 2006.
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Wales' second highest goalscorer behind Fishlock, Helen Ward, says replacing Fishlock will be every bit as hard as the men have found filling the void left by Gareth Bale.
"It is virtually impossible to replace Jess," she explained.
"I think it is going to be like – and I don't like to compare – replacing Gareth Bale.
"There is a fear of what Wales will be like without Jess Fishlock. She's a generational, once-in-a-lifetime player. We have been lucky to have her as long as we have."
How can Wales improve and become more competitive?
Football is now the largest participation sport among girls in Wales, with record investment and a 45% rise in the number of girls playing.
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Vastly improved funding from the FAW should certainly improve the level of young talent coming through, but in the short-term, Wales have an issue with how few of their current players are playing regularly.
For the first time Wales have a fully professional squad, but they are still lacking in players who regularly play club football at the top level, with several of Wales' Women's Super League players unable to command regular first team football.
For example, none of Wales' Euro 2025 goalkeepers are currently playing regularly, despite being at Leicester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa
Wales boss Wilkinson says that issue is her current number one priority to address.
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"My players have to be playing," she said. "I had five players out of contract here at the Euros. It's mind-blowing to me. Esther Morgan starts all of our games, plays and she doesn't have a club. It drives me wild.
"I look at some of my players and it does frustrate me. So I've got to try and find them opportunities abroad.
"Maybe I have to send them to North America, which is a tough challenge. But they have to be playing, firstly. That's the basic.
"Same with my goalkeepers. My goalkeepers don't start for their clubs. So the next stage is how do I get them in an environment where they are getting that game time?
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"I've told their agents that, excuse me, I need them playing. Just like any international coach, you just want your players playing."
Wilkinson feels the lack of regular club football gives Wales a physical disadvantage when they face top sides like France and England.
"They're international players, so what is it that we're doing with Wales to help support their sports scientists? Because they have to be ready," she added.
"How do we work with them to continue to push on their physical standards? Because I'll be honest, we don't have enough of my players right now who are hitting the top-level benchmark."
Wales' first major tournament is in the books, but their bid to become a nation that continues to rise through the ranks of women's football is only just beginning.