News

“You are more than welcome to use my office. I’ll show you how everything works, but I won’t be here during the tournament. Quite honestly, women’s football is sh*t.”

Twenty years ago, England hosted the 2005 UEFA Women’s European Championship, and I effectively had three roles: Lionesses Press Officer, Head of tournament PR, and Media Operations, working with UEFA to oversee the delivery of media facilities in each stadium.

On one pre-event visit, the incumbent media officer uttered the memorable quote above. It was indicative of the time. Due to a lack of club interest in hosting games, Warrington Wolves – a rugby league club – stepped forward. Mainstream media support – beyond a small nucleus of diehards and the BBC – was minimal. A few days before the tournament kicked off, Manchester United announced they were disbanding their women’s team. Cue a slew of negative headlines, especially with rivals Manchester City hosting the opening game.

That tournament did not drive an immediate surge in media, commercial and grassroots participation interest. However, the seeds had been sown. Two years later in 2007, England qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in China and from that point onwards, their record of qualifying for, and competing in major tournaments has not looked back.

 

 

On a personal level, relationships that I made in China opened the door in 2008 to a role at FIFA in Zürich, Switzerland, where I would stay in a variety of Comms and Digital roles until the summer of 2024. During that time, I worked at competitions in over twenty-five countries across six continents, including at every FIFA Women’s World Cup from 2011 to 2023. One constant, wherever we went, were the volunteers.

Regularly described as ‘the lifeblood of the tournament’ and ‘unsung heroes,’ this summer, it has been my turn to join the volunteer ranks. Having been notified in April that I had been selected as one of 2,500 volunteers from over 12,000 applicants, I excitedly set off on 1 July to collect my accreditation and uniform. 24 hours later I arrived in the Fan Village in the centre of the city to begin my first shift.

There are numerous parallels between my first EUROs twenty years ago and this one. Women in Switzerland were also banned from playing for half a century since the 1920s. Although a women’s national team has existed since 1973, they didn’t qualify for a major tournament until 2015. Women’s football has grown in popularity in recent years, but the 2025 Swiss FA Women’s Cup Final, despite a new record crowd, ‘only’ saw 8,664 spectators present. 

With over 600,000 tickets sold before a ball had even been kicked, the tournament was already set to raise the bar as the most attended Women’s EURO in history too. Once it started, the positive trend continued.

 

 

Switzerland’s opening day fixture against Norway generated a new record crowd for a Swiss women’s national team: more than 34,000 fans in Basel. A day later, 29,520 watched reigning world champions Spain take on Portugal, the most ever for a Women’s EURO game (other than the final) not involving a host nation. Ahead of their second group game, 14,000 Swiss and Icelandic fans snaked through the city of Bern on a fan walk to the stadium. While it was announced during the second England group game that 287,438 fans had attended this year's group games so far (with a full round of fixtures still to be played). Five new records for the Women’s EURO broken. 

As each new superlative is charted, I feel an ever-growing sense of pride. I have lived in Switzerland for almost 17 years. My children have all been educated in the Swiss school system, and whenever major sporting events (or Eurovision!) take place, we all cheer as hard for our adopted country, as we do for England.

On the eve of the tournament, The Athletic published an interview with Tatjana Haenni. A former FIFA colleague, Tatjana went on to join the Swiss FA (SFV) as head of women’s and girls’ football. She was instrumental in bidding for this year’s tournament. When asked to remember what the SFV’s goals were, she replied very candidly.

“The goal is to host a tournament to show Switzerland how great women’s football is. All these people will jump from a low level of either not knowing or not watching it, to holy f***, this is great. If you do that with 20-30% of society, it will be a cultural change for women and women’s football in this country for the future.”

Reading and watching daily media updates, it feels like this event could act as a springboard for a bigger and brighter future. On the tram home after England’s defeat to France – the best atmosphere at the Letzigrund I’ve ever seen for a football match - I was talking to a Swiss father who had taken his 5-year-old daughter to her first ever game. He confessed to a lack of interest in football or sport. But he wanted his daughter to be inspired. He wanted her to know what was possible, before other parts of society tell her what they expect (or not) from young girls. It was a lovely moment. Without this tournament, it would not have happened.

Around the city, I have seen countless Arsenal and England shirts on the backs of Swiss German speaking girls and women in Zürich. I have seen three generations of families strolling through the fan village together, trying out the sponsor games, queuing up for the local radio station’s karaoke booth, or running to hug Maddli the mascot. 

 

 

The impact of this tournament on the future of women’s football in Switzerland will only be calculable in another couple of years. The pre-tournament legacy target of the Swiss FA was to ‘lay a new foundation for football in Switzerland and create tangible change.’  This included doubling the number of active female players from 40,000 to 80,000 in 2027, with similar growth targets for new coaches, referees, and Super League spectators.

The UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 slogan is: The Summit of Emotions. After a thrilling start, we haven’t reached the peak yet. My own volunteering experience is set to conclude with a shift on the day of the final. As I stand in the Public Viewing area that night, reflecting on my experiences and how far the women’s game has come, I have a fair idea what my own emotions will be. 

Alex Stone has been working with WIF since January 2025 and a member of our Marketing and Communications Committee since 2019. Living in Zürich, he is currently supporting the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 as a volunteer and will write a second blog later this month.

Images courtesy of ©Stadt Zürich by Getty Images

Share this article