While watching England win the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 title over Germany, a 2-1 extra-time victory on Sunday, Inter Miami CF head coach Phil Neville kept returning to a central emotion.
The team he managed for three years before coming to MLS ahead of the 2021 season had just reached a historic moment, as the Lionesses brought England their first major trophy in 56 years in men’s or women’s soccer.
The paradigm-changing result came before 87,192 fans at Wembley Stadium, a record attendance figure for a men’s or women’s Euro final. Per the BBC, a peak audience of 17.4 million was measured alongside 5.9 million streams – the United Kingdom-based network’s most-watched program this year.
“That’s changed women’s sport, never mind women's soccer,” Neville said Monday. “There’s only one word, just immense pride. I watched the game with David [Beckham] and we jumped up, we celebrated and we felt just an immense pride watching it. I did feel emotionally attached because I always say, 'These are my girls. These are the girls that inspired me and made me a better manager.'”
Women’s soccer hasn’t always been treated on the same plane as the men’s game, Neville said of his home country, but he thinks that wall is quickly crumbling considering what head coach Sarina Wiegman’s group achieved. England won the 2019 SheBelieves Cup under Neville’s leadership, yet the continental title reaches an entirely different level.
“You’ve got a lot of people still very skeptical and after what people are seeing now, people are jumping onboard and now are accepting,” Neville said. “I say it all the time that these girls are breaking down barriers, and there’s still massive [ones] to be broken down in all aspects of life for females. But I think when you have a soccer team doing so well, that reverberates and ripples around the world.
“That doesn’t just mean that it’s going to create change in soccer. It’s going to create change in all aspects of life, which I think can only be a good thing.”
Neville’s perspective comes as a 59-times capped England international defender, one who played in over 500 Premier League matches for Everton and Manchester United. He also enjoyed assistant stints with Valencia CF, Manchester United and the England Men's Under-21s.
Upon becoming the Lionesses’ head coach, Neville saw himself chasing the standard the United States, four-time World Cup winners and four-time Olympic gold medalists, have set in the women’s game. But he feels the tide is starting to turn.
“America was always the standard-bearer,” Neville said. “I feel as if the rest of the world has caught up and maybe America’s maybe a little bit complacent now. Maybe this has given them a we-need-to-kick-on-again [feeling].
"I always felt that eventually the world would kick up to the incredible coaching development opportunities for females in sport in America. For me, when I got the job, I was thinking we need to be like America on and off the pitch. I think the rest of the world are catching up very quickly and if not in some aspects taking over."
Up next, England turn their attention to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and are on the verge of qualifying while atop UEFA’s Group D pathway. That event will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand next summer.
All that, combined with the rising Women's Super League and how its teams are performing in the UEFA Women's Champions League, leaves Neville adamant that women’s soccer will only keep soaring across England and Europe.
“For those that are still in denial, this ain’t going away,” Neville said. “These girls aren’t going away. It’s here for good.”
