What does England’s victory mean for women’s football?

Well, thank goodness for that. Just as it seemed the England’s women’s football team might be about to extend the nation’s 56 years in search of a continental football title, a glorious release courtesy of an injury time winner from Chloe Kelly broke the spell. Saving us all from yet more psychological trauma like that inflicted by Gareth Southgate’s men’s team’s recent near misses, the Lionesses’ victory sent the stadium and the country ‘into raptures’.

It was a terrific game and crowned what has been a fine tournament. To paraphrase a great war-time patriot, no one would quibble with ‘allowing ourselves a brief moment of rejoicing’. But then, for the good of the game, and our collective sanity, some sober reflection on two key questions would be useful: what does the victory really mean and will it really lead to an explosion of interest in women’s football?

For the first it appears necessary to stress that this was fundamentally a sporting triumph, not a political one as many seem keen for us to believe.