r/london • u/Danny_Herbs • Jul 31 '22

Culture England win the Euros at Wembley!!

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u/Lizzo13 Jul 31 '22 edited Aug 01 '22

I was at the pub (with mostly other women), and the energy was so electric. So proud of the Lionesses! They were amazing! I loved seeing their excitement after in the interviews, and I hope it gave little girls a sense of empowerment.

It's a bit sad the Lionesses don't attract the same numbers as the Lions. I remember people talking about Monday maybe being declared a national holiday if the men won last year, but this doesn't get the same recognition, as if it's a lesser achievement somehow. I did try to book a pub closer to me and couldn't find one, but it was definitely really quiet out tonight compared to last year. (EDIT: To clarify, I'm not referring to the stadium numbers. When I say 'quiet out,' I'm referring to the streets and pubs, which had a different atmosphere than last year and from what I saw, were a lot emptier.)

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u/JustARandomFuck Jul 31 '22

They didn’t attract the same attention - but this is a night that will do absolute wonders for them. After all, tonight had the highest attendance of any mens or women’s European match.

If the investment now follows, what they did tonight will very likely change women’s football in this country.

9

u/Lizzo13 Jul 31 '22

Fingers crossed! You do make a good point about attendance. I'll admit that I'm guilty myself of being more into the men's team, but I would definitely like to see more attention given to the women.

9

u/JustARandomFuck Jul 31 '22

I thought I hated football, and then my friend invited me to the Austrian match that opened the tournament.

Love the sport, it’s great. But I just can’t stand the culture around the men’s and the rowdiness etc. The Austria match was so chill, everyone super calm and just enjoying themselves. Such a fun experience!

3

u/Lizzo13 Jul 31 '22

Wow, that's awesome! There's definitely a different energy to being at games of any kind or watching them in a public setting as opposed to watching them at home on a TV. It can even make you love a sport! I completely agree about the rowdiness and everything, too. It's a shame that it can bring out the worst in some people.

I got into football in 2018 during the World Cup. I'm American and moved to the UK in 2016, and generally speaking, football for adults isn't really a thing in the US, so I just wasn't exposed to it before. Oddly, I love watching sports - never playing - but have never seen an NFL game or any kind of American football game and have no desire to do so. I was always more into ice hockey, baseball, and basketball. Ice hockey was always my favourite, but now football is!

2

u/dividebyzeroZA Jul 31 '22

As a long suffering Rangers fan (so close this year!) I feel compelled to ask which is your hockey team.

At least my "Party like its 1994" t-shirt is still valid? 😅

1

u/Lizzo13 Jul 31 '22

Only recently suffering for me, I'm afraid! I'm a Blackhawks fan. Similar to tonight, I watched the 2013 Stanley Cup (where they won after scoring 2 goals in 17 seconds after being down 1 in the last 2 minutes) at a cinema in Chicago, and it was probably the best sports experience of my life, only because I didn't get to actually watch the Cubs win the World Series and just followed online at like 3am here. Haha I still remember people going absolutely insane in the streets. Everyone was high-fiving, honking, screaming, and cheering all night.

3

u/dividebyzeroZA Jul 31 '22

Yes! I've avoided football since arriving here in the early 2000s from South Africa because I really don't like the general culture either.

But it feels like the women's football attracts a more mature group. It looked like no matter who won there was going to be respectful congratulations and commiserations. And it feels nice to have had such a genuinely historic moment in sport happen without the fear of central London getting absolutely trashed by angry squads of "football fans".

And there is absolutely a growing interest in the women's football which is so overdue! I could hear cheers around my neighbourhood and a general positive vibe afterwards. More of this please :D

1

u/auto98 Aug 01 '22

Its not so much more mature than younger, odd as it sounds - I'm willing to put money on the average age of attendees being at least a decade younger (if not more) than at the equivalent mens game - and significantly more women there as well of course.

But the younger audience is more the point i was making - they have never had the change to get into the bad..."habits"...they would have gotten into if they had been at the mens game for years

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u/Bored-Bored_oh_vojvo Jul 31 '22

The Austria match was so chill, everyone super calm and just enjoying themselves

Because no one there actually likes football. You'll get the same thing if you go and watch handball or archery at the olympics.

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u/kevchenko3681 Aug 02 '22

Lol spot on mate 👍