When the England team walk out in Sydney’s Stadium Australia to face Spain in their first Women’s World Cup final on Sunday they will be backed, as they have been throughout, by a legion of fans. Some live in Australia, delighted to have the opportunity of watching their nation; many have travelled the long distance from home, filled with hope for what the Lionesses can achieve.
Sarah Rafferty and Evie Harrison are two friends who have made the journey over for the tournament. While Rafferty has come for a three-week trip, Harrison is in Australia on a working visa, having quit her job in June. “I’d decided to take a year out and starting with the Women’s World Cup felt like the perfect beginning,” she says. “I went to England-Haiti and Brazil-France before meeting up with Sarah and doing all the knockout games. I’m feeling confident. Spain are a good side, so we’ll have to be efficient in possession and clinical in our finishing.”
They have met fellow supporters along the way and enjoyed how the host nation has embraced the tournament. “We’ve bumped into Lionesses fans in Brisbane, Sydney, down the Gold Coast and up in the Blue Mountains,” Rafferty says. “We’ve also been to the Free Lionesses’ meet-ups. This has been great to meet fellow travelling fans and get the chants going!”
“It has been brilliant to see the Aussies get so behind the Matildas and the tournament in general,” she adds. “There have been huge numbers of banners, pop-up shops and adverts surrounding the World Cup. It’s felt like a real celebration of women’s football.”
Mickey Walker and Lizzie Laws have also spent the month following England. “It’s been such an amazing experience,” Laws says. “There have been so many fans that we’ve met, that have flown over from England, some that are living over here full time. It’s just been great to have quite a lot of us get together before games. Big shout out to the Free Lionesses group, the fan group run by fans. They’ve been organising so many different things and it’s really brought all the England supporters together and just made the experience one to remember.”
Emily Taylor and her wife, Mel, have been following the team since arriving in Australia on 19 July. “It’s pretty much rained every day at home since we’ve left according to Mel’s dad so we’re feeling pretty smug,” Emily remarks. “We are so excited. To be honest we didn’t expect it, but we now have an enormous amount of hope in our hearts. In Sarina we trust!”
They have also joined up with the Free Lionesses on their travels. “It’s felt like an England family,” she says. “It’s so nice to catch up before every game to see what people have been up to and what songs have been written.
“When we initially arrived in Sydney, there were a handful of viewers in the hotel bar. Fast forward to last week, there were queues outside of the Nike shop with people trying to snap up shirts, wall-to-wall coverage on breakfast television and Caitlin Foord is looming down from every billboard you pass. It’s phenomenal, exciting and about time.”
Sophie Parker has been living in New Zealand for six-and-a-half years and managed to get a ticket for the semi-final. She is now returning for the final. “I’m nervous, but also quite confident,” she says. “I think this England team have got incredible spirit. You can just see how much it means to all of them.”
“I’m 31, and I’ve waited for 31 years to see England in a World Cup final –men, women, children, it doesn’t matter. England are in a World Cup final for the first time since 1966. That is incredible. For someone that used to play football when I was younger and all my role models were men, it’s just amazing that now we’ve got young girls coming through in the UK that can put on the TV and see these women achieving so much.”
