England offer record crowd glimpse of new dawn for women’s football

Trailblazers. Pioneers. Game-changers. History-makers. Yes: England scored a first‑half goal and began a major tournament without looking flustered or getting booed off the pitch at full-time. It was comfortable rather than easy, composed rather than fluent. But as England completed their lap of honour in front of 69,000 chilly but cheering fans, the sense was of a team that were simply relieved to be off and running, determined to ride this wave of noise all the way to the end.

For all England’s busyness, their 15 shots on goal, perhaps the moment that best encapsulated them came just seconds from the end. Deep into the 90 minutes Leah Williamson received the ball in defence, with Austrian shirts flooding forward in an attempt to hunt her down. If ever there was a time for getting rid, it was here. Instead Williamson looked up and pinged a precise 40-yard pass all along the ground to Georgia Stanway. On a night of peak pressure and peak expectation England kept their heads, and somehow this felt like the most crucial victory of all.

This is not how England teams are meant to start tournaments. The rules are very clear on this. At the very least we have been conditioned to expect several panicky clearances, at least one back pass that goes for a corner, at least one stupid yellow card that leads to a suspension later on.

Instead Mary Earps had maybe two regulation saves to make, and for all Austria’s running and organisation England never really felt threatened after Beth Mead’s opening goal. Talk about a break with the past.

Mead’s goal was a clinic on at least three fronts: the cool take‑down and finish, Fran Kirby’s elegant diagonal ball, and the brilliantly clever sideways header by Lauren Hemp to set up the chance