Just four days out from what is expected to be the biggest Women's World Cup in history, Telegraph Women’s Sports editor, Anna Kessel, welcomed BBC Head of Sport - Barbara Slater, the FA’s Director of the Professional Game - Kelly Simmons, former FA board member and Chair of #TimesUp UK - Heather Rabbatts, Visa European Sponsorship Director - Stephen Day, footballer Rosie Kmita and CEO of grassroots football group Goals 4 Girls Francesca Brown to discuss the future of women’s football.

How much has the landscape changed since England’s Lionesses won that historic bronze medal in Canada four years ago?

Barbara Slater In 2015 it was the most ambitious coverage we’d ever put around a women’s football event. But when we tried to reach outside the BBC, I felt we were hitting a bit of a brick wall – we couldn’t persuade others to come along. It’s very different this time. We’re seeing an explosion of interest. We’re making a tremendous investment, every single match will be live on the BBC so you will not miss a moment.

Heather Rabbatts I think the zeitgeist has shifted, globally. There is something about following the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements that says, actually, issues around parity are hugely important. That collective voice has started to emerge and created a greater awareness than ever that times have to change. The fact that Nike had to change their position and support around sponsorship of pregnant athletes, virtually overnight, because of the storm of protest shows how organisations are changing. I think the World Cup is the moment which is going to shine a blazing light.

Rosie Kmita As players we feel that, too. At training our conversations are about feeling valued. Having women’s kits, for example, or the media coverage, we’re able to tell our stories as people now. You feel you’re not just bolted on anymore, this is our game.

Kelly Simmons At previous World Cups everyone assumed it would be the US or Germany to win it. That’s changed now, you talk to people in the women’s game and everyone’s telling me seven, eight different teams are going to win it. There’s an excitement around this World Cup that I’ve never felt before. The BBC is a big part of that, and there’s multi-million-pound sponsorship activation deals which we’ve never seen before.

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Stephen Day We’re investing as much in women’s football, in Europe, as we did in the men’s World Cup last year. Because the Visa brand – and it does come down to brand – is about inclusion it’s an obvious thing for us to do. When we looked at our plans for the World Cup we could see the vicious cycle – not enough investment or coverage. We saw we could make a difference by investing substantially to try and break that cycle. For us it was a no-brainer. It might not pay back in terms of ROI immediately, but we’ve invested for the long term.

How is this filtering down to the grassroots game?

Francesca Brown There’s a lot that isn’t filtering down. There’s still schools where girls aren’t being allowed to play football, there’s still that gender split between, “we’ll run boys’ football after school but not girls’.” A lot of the girls I work with in the BAME community cannot afford to sign up to a grassroots club. There are massive barriers to overcome and the teachers don’t have time. I’ve got to bang my head against a wall just to get funding. Over 400 girls, the highest intake of women and girls in London, so why am I struggling? I’m a black woman, running my own company, I’m a representation for those girls, I’ve lived and breathed it and yet on panels at big organisations, too, often black women are not represented.

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