Sarina Wiegman Calls for More Investment in Women’s Football After Victory in the 2025 European Championship
The English national team coach, Sarina Wiegman, urged for greater investment in women’s football during a “very, very special” reception at 10 Downing Street this Monday, celebrating the success in the Euro 2025. The Lionesses successfully defended their Women’s European Championship title with a penalty shootout victory against Spain in the final in Basel, Switzerland, on Sunday. After becoming the first English team to win a major tournament on foreign soil, the team returned home to attend a reception hosted by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock in central London. The team arrived just before 7 p.m. BST, with the number 10 decorated for the occasion with St George’s flags hanging in the windows and bunting along the railings. As Wiegman went up to speak to those present in the Downing Street garden, she joked that “this is different from standing next to a field”.
Wiegman added: “The team is simply incredible, we won the European Championship, but reaching the final, we are already legendary, what the team has done and the team behind the team.” “Thank you very much for receiving us here. It’s very, very special to be here and to be in this so pleasant garden with the way they prepared it with all these photos, it makes it more special, it’s the first moment in which it is assimilated a little because what happened last night was surreal.” Wiegman, speaking a few hours before the UK government announced a new package of measures to boost access to grassroots football, seized the moment to call for greater investment in the sport. “This incredible team won the European Championship and immediately sent a letter to the Government, asking for attention and asking for access to football for all girls,” said Wiegman. “Measures have been taken, but we are not finished yet, we have to move forward and we need a little more.”“I have to apologize [for giving you] many heart attacks. Everyone overcame it and we overcame it too and that’s why we are here now.”
Sarina Wiegman
In her own speech, Rayner congratulated Wiegman’s team for defending their title “with courage, determination and skill”. “They roared, and I know I wasn’t the only one who roared with you,” said Rayner.“We need more investment. We haven’t arrived yet. In England we are at the top, but England needs to continue to be the pioneer, needs to be the great example. The players first, but also the FA, the clubs, the Government, the country, the fans, let’s continue to be the pioneers.”
Sarina Wiegman
The previous Monday, after almost a month of competition in Switzerland, the team’s plane, labeled with the word “home”, landed at London Southend Airport.
In a social media post, the team shared a photo of the Euro Cup trophy wrapped in an England flag on an airplane seat. Holding the trophy, captain Leah Williamson was the first to get off the plane alongside Wiegman. Outside the airport, crowds lined up to welcome the team. King Charles III said the team had the “warmest appreciation and admiration” of the royal family following their victory. “The next task is to bring home the World Cup in 2027 if possible,” he added.
