After winning the Euros 2022 last summer, The Lionesses had penned an open letter to the government to ask and ensure that young girls have access to play football at school.

England Captain Leah Williamson welcomed a government package which will seek girls to have equal access to sports opportunities. Schools in England will be told they must deliver at least 2 hours of physical education each week and that girls and boys should be able to play in the same sports lessons. The government is putting in £600 million over two academic years, which will be specifically designed to help improve the quality of PE and sports in primary schools. 

Williamson said this had all started when they won the Euros last year which was a huge achievement, they wanted to pave the way and give opportunities to young girls as part of their legacy, which they’ve started doing by making changes to school sports.

“The success of the summer has inspired so many young girls to pursue their passion for football” said Leah Williamson. “We see it as our responsibility to open the doors for them to do so and this announcement makes that possible. This is the legacy that we want to live much longer than us as a team”.

According to FA figures, only 67% of all schools and 41% of secondary schools offer football to girls equally in PE lessons. The announcement which was unveiled by the government also occured with International Women’s Day.