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Last winter, I watched my teammate Shareen beg the referee to give the go-ahead after he expressed reasonable doubts about the state of our eighth-tier football pitch, situated in a recreation ground-cum-bog. In one of the penalty boxes, the mud was ankle-deep — not even close to fit to play, yet Shareen wasn’t the only one willing to give it a go. All for the love of the game and, for some, to swerve the reality of having shaken off your hangover and got into your shinpads for no good reason.

Last week, I travelled further than our rightly disgruntled away opposition that day. This time the match was to take place in even more unlikely conditions – way up in the Bernese Alps.

When UEFA planned their Euro 2025 launch event – a five-a-side game between Team Switzerland and Team Europe at Jungfraujoch – it wasn’t underfoot sogginess that posed a threat. You could have eaten your fondue off the pitch they laid directly onto the Aletsch glacier on Monday afternoon. But by the appointed kick-off time on Tuesday afternoon, the turf was covered in a thick layer of white, and this wasn’t the kind of snowfall that could be fixed with an orange ball.

It was several men with several brooms versus the elements as the media invited by UEFA to beam back the delights of Switzerland to the rest of Europe got a taste of the unpredictability of mountain life. Fortunately, none of the Swiss cities set to host next summer’s European Championships suffer from such altitude — though fans of teams drawn into groups A and B will visit Thun, which is well within striking distance of the stunning Jungfrau region.

Dominated by a trio of mountain giants — the Jungfrau, the Eiger and the Mönch — the Jungfrau region has some incredible views as well as a brilliant range of highland activities. You could zipline or mountain cart your way through the landscape, or take advantage of one of many fantastic hiking routes for postcard-perfect sights accompanied by the gentle sound of cowbells.

Visibility can be limited by changeable weather, but fortunately I was accompanied by a great guide, Rob from Ski Press — who was put in touch with me with the help of Women in Football — which made hunkering down with a rösti and a lager just as enjoyable.

I needed more than the beer jacket which might suffice on a UK away day as we awaited the referee’s call atop the glacier. I could still feel my fingers, but periodic blasts of icy wind were epic and sure to disturb a competitive game of football. The ref agreed, and the contest was settled with a penalty shootout 3,500 metres above sea level – maybe the coldest of its kind, and surely the highest.

Neither the conditions nor the altitude nor the game’s inconsequence could blunt the competitiveness of the assembled footballers, including former Lioness Anita Asante, who were desperate to win the shootout for their side. But it fell to Swiss footballing legend Lara Dickenmann to take the most decisive kick of the afternoon, symbolically opening the ticket sales and volunteer programme for UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 as the countdown to next summer’s tournament officially began.

“Undoubtedly, UEFA Women's EURO 2025 in Switzerland will inspire more girls to take up football and drive the growth of women’s football overall,” she said. “There is no greater gift for any former player than inspiring the next generation.”

Photos: Francesco Scaccianoce - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images. With thanks to Rob Stewart

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