England’s latest Euro triumph can have a huge knock-on impact for the Women’s Super League campaign ahead, according to former Lioness and now pundit Izzy Christiansen.
“I think we can really bring to life the excitement, catch the energy that the Euros generated, use it into our coverage and use it across the league as well,” she told reporters at a recent launch for the season’s broadcast coverage, “and I think the fact that we’re televising so many live games makes young fans be able to, if they can’t go to the game, they can watch it.
“And that’s exactly what we need to continue the inspiration through for young boys, young girls to see it, believe it. And if they can watch it on their screens at home, it makes them believe that they can be that one day as well.”
Christiansen: ‘The impact it’s had is massive’
Sarina Wiegman’s team are back-to-back European champions, having won at home in 2022 and then defended their title this summer, beating Spain in the final in Basel after a nail-biting penalty shoot-out.
And Christiansen added that she had been speaking to one of the victorious squad – her good friend and former team-mate Alex Greenwood, who scored one of the penalties that made the Lionesses the first senior England team to win a major tournament overseas.
“It was three weeks ago now: she’s still feeling [it], and of course she’ll still feel it for the rest of her life, but the impact it’s had on women’s football in our country is massive.”
The impact of the 2025 Women’s Euros
The 2025 Women’s Euros set a new record for aggregate attendance across the tournament, totalling 657,291. There was also a new record aggregate attendance in the group stages alone, of 461,582, with 22 of those 24 matches selling out completely. Initial data also suggested that 12.2 million people watched the final on BBC platforms alone, making it the most-watched television event of the year thus far; it was also aired simultaneously on ITV.
Izzy Christiansen’s career
Izzy Christiansen made 31 senior appearances for England, scoring six goals. During her career, she won the league title, cup, and UEFA Women’s Champions League with Lyon, as well as the Continental Cup, Women’s Super League and Women’s FA Cup with Manchester City, plus an FA Women’s Cup with Birmingham City.
Since retiring at the end of the 2022-23 season, she has become one of the most high-profile television pundits in addition to her role coaching in the Manchester City academy.
