Jill Scott has praised the impact made by England' s Euro 2022 win and the success of Beth Mead at this year's Sports Personality of The Year awards, and tipped the Lionesses for even more success at next summer's World Cup.
Scott and her England teammates wrote themselves into the history books after being crowned European champions in the summer.
Sarina Wiegman's team inspired the nation with their remarkable triumph on home soil, and this has been evident in the Women's Super League. The break in men's football due to the Qatar World Cup has given many WSL teams the chance to play in their club's main stadium.
A number of record attendances were seen throughout November and December, with over 47,000 fans turning out for Arsenal's North London derby clash with Tottenham Hotspur, and 42,000 watching the Manchester City's local clash with Manchester United.
One person who is delighted to have seen this impact is England stalwart Scott. Speaking to Mirror Sport at the Sports Personality of the Year awards, Scott said: "It has been amazing. What we said off the back of it is we want to see the crowds increase in the WSL.
Revealing she herself is one of the fans descending on WSL matches up and down the country following her recent retirement, she went on: "I am now one of them fans, I go to the games, so to see 50,000 at Arsenal, at Tottenham for example there has been a big knock on effect and that is what we wanted.
"We didn’t want the tournament to be a one off, you want to keep that effect on the sport." At the awards, Scott and her teammates' achievement was once again recognised as the Lionesses were voted Sports Personality Team of the Year.
The awards did not stop there, as manager Wiegman was named Coach of the Year. The night however belonged to Mead, after she was name Sports Personality of the Year following her heroics over the summer.
The Arsenal forward played a starring role in England's success, after winning the golden boot, and player of the tournament following her team's triumph. And her heroics were recognised this week, after she pipped Ben Stokes and Eve Muirhead to the historic prize.
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Mead and her teammates will no doubt be hoping to repeat their Euros heroics at next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Whilst she will not be on the plane next summer, Scott has expressed her confidence in her former teammates.
When asked if she felt England can win the World Cup in 2023, Scott replied: "100%. I’m allowed to get too excited now that I am not playing, so I am bigging them up, I am like ‘get behind the Lionesses!’, but yeah I believe in this squad so much."
Speaking highly of Wiegman's squad and labelling them 'special', Scott went on: "There is so much talent, and you know what I think half of them don’t even realise how good they are and that is what makes this group so special."
