How can LCFC Women capitalise on the success of Euro 2022?
I think it will be all about their community activation from here – realistically, the first team isn't going to benefit much directly from any kind of immediate post-Euros boom, but there are two big areas that definitely could.
The first is obvious: ticket sales. Last season (according to WSL Attendances on Twitter), the average attendance at the King Power Stadium was 2,446, so there's some great scope to nudge that up in 2022-23. Thankfully, the club's season ticket prices are absolutely outstanding value at £40 for adults and should go a long way to helping this, so long as they're on the case with strong social promotion from now.
The second area is more longtail – it's now about getting into communities and inspiring the next generation of girls to join a local team and get involved. Chances are, if they're good enough they'll soon get spotted by Leicester scouts and a pathway created for them. And if they're not? Also fine. I'm a huge believer in a club really working hard for its community, and just showing serious encouragement and support for grassroots girls football in Leicester would be brilliant to see. They have the power do to that.
Joe Brewin
Every time there's been a Euros game on, and especially if it's England, my Twitter timeline has been full of people watching and enjoying it. A lot who I don't think had previously watched a lot or caught the bug. That feels different this time. Having crowds enjoying such a positive experience at the games should have a knock on impact to all the clubs, so hopefully LCFC Women will get a boost in crowds for the next season too.
The club themselves have done, and continue to do, positive things to help put LCFC Women in the spotlight but fans and media will be key for helping it get the same footing and recognition that the men's sides get. Attracting bigger crowds at home games will help with investment, with the next generation of players. When was the last time that it felt like the whole country was enjoying the Euros this much without any real negativity or fan incidents stealing headlines?
If the powers that be are paying attention, they should put more funding and more focus into the women's game and that can only have a positive impact on the wider picture, not just for those in the England squad. They've been a shining, positive example of hard work and teamwork and hopefully it's inspiring every other player too.
Helen Nutter
There’s no doubt how much of an impact the Euros are going to have on women’s football in this country. The sell-out crowds full of families and young children will be inspired by watching their idols playing on the biggest stage and girls new to the sport will want to get involved.
LCFC Women could latch onto this hype and try to increase the attendance at games and bring younger players through the academy system.
Cheaper tickets for families and young people would be snapped up, giving them a great opportunity to continue watching women’s football after the Euros.
With so many girls being inspired, they may want to get into the game and the club are already capitalising by hosting new summer football camps which I’m sure will be very popular. The club could also use social media to promote local teams that girls could join.
Jack Johnson
Euro 2022 felt like a proper tournament in the same vein as previous men’s editions in the sense that the coverage wasn’t hidden away on lesser channels or confined to a small section of the BBC website. It was front and centre everywhere.
So focusing on what the club as a whole can do to replicate that feel, I’m looking forward to seeing even greater integration of the women’s team setup into the LCFC brand (for want of a better word). This has started to happen with aspects like kit launches and the meet-and-greets for kids. There’s no implied criticism here - the club has already done some great work in the past couple of years and now it’s just looking at how to take things up another level.
Hopefully the club can continue to identify those opportunities, even the little things such as including goals from LCFC Women’s matches or the 2021 Championship title celebration scenes in the pre-game montage at men’s matches - that would feel like a positive step. At the moment, perhaps because the social media accounts are separate and there’s such a disparity in the amount of coverage on all platforms, they still feel like two distinct entities on very different levels. The scale of the Euros, and the buzz around the final in particular, showed the appetite is there. For Leicester, it’s already moving in the right direction.
David Bevan
