MORE investment in women’s sport is needed to capitalise on the surge in interest seen during the World Cup, Islanders at the Liberty Wharf fan zone said yesterday.
With TV screens set up in the shopping centre, and restaurants selling beers from 11am, the excitement around the game was palpable – despite the disappointing result, with England losing 1-0 against Spain.
Hannah Campbell, who was first called up to play for Jersey’s football team in 2020, said she was delighted to see so many Islanders turn out to watch the match.
‘I’ve lived here my whole life and to see all these people watching – you can’t really describe it,’ she said.
‘I’ve played football for so long and you’d never really consider that so many people would come to watch the women’s game.’
But she added that she would like ‘more to be done’ to support women’s football in the Island.
‘We’ve got four teams in the league, if that. I think it’s important that we keep this hype and we keep the momentum.’
Sophie Venton (22), who plays for Wednesday Night Football Club, said that although it was great to see more support for women’s football in the last two years, she would have liked to see a bigger screen – ‘like they did for the men’s’.
Former England netball captain Serena Kersten, who was watching the game closely together with her family, said that she was ‘loving it’.
She added: ‘What’s amazing about this is that we’ve got a group of women inspiring a nation, inspiring women and girls in Jersey. It’s an exciting day for women in football. It’s great to be here and soak up the atmosphere.’
She said that she would like to see more investment in women’s sport, adding: ‘Women’s sport is making waves… that can be leveraged to take [women’s sport] to the next level, for girls to be healthy and have fun and enjoy their passion.’
The crowd included families with children. Among them were Liz and Richard Taylor from Manchester, who are visiting Jersey together with Laura (8) and Cara (13). Laura was inspired by the Lionesses to play football and has been playing for Stockport Vikings since 2021.
Mrs Taylor commented: ‘Obviously, we’re disappointed in the result. But we’re mainly proud of the Lionesses, they inspire girls like Laura.’
