The Lionesses' roaring success has inspired a whole generation of girls

Telegraph

4 days ago

SIR – I wonder if we, as a nation, have fully grasped the magnitude of the Lionesses' success in the women's Euros ('England's roar of victory', report, July 28).
They have become champions, role models and pioneers. They've inspired a generation of girls to lace up their boots and believe that football truly is for them. Yet amid the flags and face paint, we still find ourselves singing about 1966 – and a goal scored by a man who, if he played today, might be astonished by the speed, skill and sporting spirit on show in the women's game.
We rightly celebrate the rise of women's sport. But perhaps it's time we stopped framing their achievements in relation to the men's game and simply recognised them for what they are: history-makers in their own right.
Shaun Fenton
Headmaster, Reigate Grammar School
Reigate, Surrey
SIR – What a pleasure to see our girls win, and in what style: no arguing with the referee, and no on-pitch arguments or bust ups.
In an age in which it seems that everyone with a voice chooses to denigrate this country, it was also a joy to have Chloe Kelly saying she is proud to be English.
Andrew Segal
Hampton, Middlesex
SIR – The Lionesses' male equivalents, with their ridiculous pay awards, reveal themselves to be either wimps or posers with their on-pitch antics. Give me women's football to watch every time.
David Rhys
Budleigh Salterton, Devon
SIR – What an excellent success – and Spain were every inch as good, bar one kick.
At Wimbledon there would have been a mutual handshake congratulating the losers.
Alastair Milne Home
Banbury, Oxfordshire
SIR – Camilla Tominey (July 28) rightly describes the Lionesses as the pride of the nation.
A pride of lions consists of lionesses – they are the primary predators, requiring speed, coordination and teamwork – and dominant male lions, whose job is to protect the pride's territory with their greater size and strength. This may explain why the English Lionesses are more successful than their footballing male counterparts.
Stan Labovitch
Windsor, Berkshire
SIR – The BBC claims that television licence fees need to increase in order to maintain production standards.
If costs are an issue, why was it necessary for the newsreader Reeta Chakrabarti to be sent to stand outside the football grounds in Basel when the sports editor Dan Roan was already there?
John Davenport
Sutton Coldfield