Jul 4, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; England players and bench personnel pose with their medals after their victory over Germany in the third place match of the FIFA 2015 Women

For 49 years England football fans have always said after a tournament,

There’s always next time

After last night’s exploits England football fans are waking up this morning saying,

I’m proud of the English football team

The language and tone of the comments have changed, and that is as a result of English players playing for the pride of the shirt.

Has Roy Hodgson suddenly found a way of inspiring his overpaid pampered superstars?

NO.

This is as a result of a little known 34 year old manager and his relatively unknown players!

Players that usually play week in week out in front of up to 2000 die hard fans got together, pulled on the England shirt and put on a display of courage, pride , and dare I say it “big balls” to win the bronze medal at the Women’s World Cup 2015.

Not only did they win the bronze medal but last night they beat the world’s #1 ranked team, a team that we had never beaten, a run of 20 previous attempts……. the Germans.

England beat the Germans with a penalty!

The ladies of Chelsea FC have each played their part in this remarkable turnaround of English fan’s opinions of the national team, Claire Rafferty, Katie Chapman and Eniola Aluko, every one of them being mentioned with a sense of glowing pride.

I personally had become fed up with the England national team, it even reached the stage where I wasn’t bothered if I watched them again. That as a fiercely proud Englishman is a hard thing to admit, but that’s how fed up I was with seeing the English shirt being worn by players going through the motions, appearing not to care because they knew they would go back to their clubs the following week where a big fat paycheck would be waiting for them.

What a difference the England Ladies football team have made during this World Cup to people’s attitude to our national game, as can be verified with the way social media has been awash with messages of support and pride for what our ladies have achieved.

Along with millions of English fans I stayed up late nights to watch players in an England shirt play with pride, courage and determination to leave nothing on the pitch. They weren’t favourites to win the tournament, indeed bookies were offering odds of 20/1 to win and I personally thought a quarter final defeat was the likely outcome. In my introduction blog I even said that we would lose to Germany on penalties!

A special mention must be made here of Mark Sampson, a young, intelligent and inspiring coach who took over as England’s head man after a successful spell at Bristol Academy Women’s FC guiding them to their best ever results ever in 2013.

He immediately changed the atmosphere around the English national team with his hands on but relaxed approach to the players. Throughout this tournament he has been questioned about his rotation of players and formations (including by me!) but he has been proven right every time. He has learnt along the way about tournament play and his players have bought into it at every step.

Mark Sampson and the England ladies have restored a sense of pride in the English national game, that should just be the start of their legacy after this history making tournament.

What happens next will decide the fate of women’s football in this country.

If the happy memories are allowed to fade within a week will it all have been worth it?

If, however, more football fans go to a few women’s football matches as a result of this tournament that will indeed be the true legacy and will bring the ladies game more into the spotlight that it deserves.

The FA are already involved with organising and promoting the women’s game in this country, all the way from the top tier of the game, from the FAWSL1 down to grass roots level with your local team, and now they need to step up to the plate and really promote the beautiful ladies game.

All the Chelsea Ladies FC players who participated in this world cup will be back at Staines Town FC for the resumption of the FAWSL1 on Sunday 12th July in a game against Mark Sampson’s old team Bristol Academy Womens FC, kick off at 2pm. Tickets only cost £5 for adults and £3 for children, where else can you get to great World Cup heroines for such a low price!!!

Furthermore, the Women’s FA Cup Final takes place at Wembley for the first time in history on August 1st, and tickets are available starting from £15. What better way to show our appreciation to the national team by packing into the national stadium for the showpiece event! Tickets can be bought from the FA at this link.

On behalf of The Pride Of London, we salute the English Lionesses, we thank you for the exciting memories of the Women’s World Cup 2015, and we look forward to seeing you get all the recognition that you fully deserve.

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