FA chiefs believe the “phenomenal” success of the Euros will have a lasting legacy for future tournaments.
They have already launched a joint bid with Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland to stage Euros 2028. And the Lionesses are hoping they may even make a bid for the women’s 2027 World Cup because the women’s Euros has been such a hit.
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham says the Euros has strengthened their confidence and standing for future tournaments. It may also have gone a long way to restoring the English FA’s reputation after the shocking violence and crowd trouble which marred last year’s men’s Euros final at Wembley.
The women’s Euros was in direct contrast as it attracted 575,000 spectators, record crowds and TV audiences as well as hope for a long term impact for the game in this country. Bullingham said: “I mean, of course, we'd love to have (the World Cup) in the long term. But if you think that we've had we just had a number of games for the men's euros, we just had the women's euros, we're bidding for 2028 Men's euros.
“I think that's where we're at the moment. I think you'd have to ask UEFA but all the feedback we've had has been fantastic. The tournament's been run really well, we've got a phenomenal tournament, they've done everything brilliantly and we've smashed every target. So you would hope that that would put us in good stead for hosting anything else with you
“Honestly, I think with UEFA we have a lot of goodwill in the bank anyway. But I think the reality is the whole tournament has gone brilliantly so it just drives that relationship even closer.”
The joint bid for Euro 2028 is in pole position to get the go-ahead but if there was any doubt then this summer may have removed it and strengthened England’s position. Bullingham is a qualified coach and coaches a junior girls’ team himself but hopes the WSL will also seize this opportunity together with junior teams.
He praised teams like Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool who have all committed to staging key games in their main stadiums and is hoping that schools also do more coaching and more schools put girls’ football on the curriculum. Bullingham said: “That's been one of our key strategies for WSL in order to grow is having these big tentpole moments and then adding more and more of those to it.
“Playing in a big stadium is absolutely critical. I'm sure we'll have more and more games at Wembley as well - we really want to get the Lionesses there and have those good moments like last night. I think that's how you reach new families, and you give them a great experience, and then they want to come back and I think we've got about 575,000 people who've come to this tournament and that has blown all records out of the water.
“But we now need to transfer those into the WSL, now that's the challenge and we think they've had such a good time they will. That's been our strategy for a little while and the clubs have been really supportive. It's an economic challenge for them for sure but in the long-term, it's going to be an economic benefit and I think they all know that. They're getting behind it and the clubs I think are investing more and more coming on the journey.”
