I watched with fans in Telford as England beat Spain in the Euros final - and fell in love with football again

I didn't know what to expect, walking down to the grassy arena on Sunday. Three years prior I'd watched the last final in a half-empty pub that hadn't even bothered to turn off the music. 

But as I edged closer, I realised I was in a crowd full of camping chair-carrying football fans.

Looking around, I saw a sea of football shirts, faces painted in red and white and dozens of England flags - now this felt like a final.

Throughout the incredibly tense game, the atmosphere in the arena remained warm, friendly and wholesome. Children darted between the gathered families enjoying picnics and hot dogs and little games of football had broken out all around the crowd. 

When Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty, the field erupted with noise and pride. When the crowd in Basel broke out in a rendition of Sweet Caroline, Telford joined in. 

I looked around at hundreds of young girls watching their heroes on the big screen, and my eyes filled with tears.

As a young girl, I used to love football. I'd have kickabouts with my dad on weekends and get to the playground extra early to play with the boys before school.

But that's where my opportunities to play football ended. My primary school had no girls' football team - nor did either of my secondary schools. 

My parents, I imagine, didn't think to seek out other opportunities and I didn't think to ask. In our small corner of Bolton in the 1990s, girls played netball or nothing.

Soon after I stopped playing, I stopped watching. With my footballs replaced with netballs, I no longer had anything in common with those rich men on the telly, and the male-dominated culture made matchdays unrelatable too.

So when, three years ago, I watched the Lionesses beat Germany 2-1 to win their first-ever European title, I - like thousands of other women - bawled my eyes out. It felt like it was finally being taken seriously.

And it was. According to the FA, between 2020 and 2024, the number of women and girls playing football increased by 56 per cent. In the same year, the number of female coaches being developed rose by 88 per cent, while the number of female referees increased by 113 per cent.

The FA's Inspiring Positive Change women and girls' game strategy set the target of 75 per cent of schools to be offering girls equal access to football by 2024. 

But in 2023, the target was smashed, with 77 per cent of schools having equal access.

Today, there still seems to be backlash against women playing football, like even writing about it is some part of a woke media agenda to... what exactly?

Allow more young girls to learn how to kick a ball, to have football posters on their walls featuring people who look like them, to create more jobs, earn more money, have more opportunities? 

Then sign me up for the agenda, because I love football again.