The magic of England’s Euro 2022 triumph is still very much in the air and the new Women’s Super League season is now days away from kicking off.
The Lionesses, who ended their nation’s 56-year wait for silverware, have returned to their clubs and will hope to see increased support from fans following their fairytale summer.
Manchester City and England defender Demi Stokes has reminisced on how Euro 2022 attracted more eyes onto the women’s game and changed the tide of the sport.
Stokes described the summer as “a whirlwind” and admitted the magnitude of England’s achievement still hasn’t sunk in.
The Lionesses beat eight-time European champions Germany back in July to win their first major trophy and cement their names in English folklore.
Stokes reflected on how it felt as though the team was “in a bubble” throughout the entire tournament and the players only realised the level of support behind them once they stepped out in front of a record Wembley crowd.
“Me, Jill [Scott] and [Lauren] Hemp needed to nip out to Boots and every five steps someone was like ‘well done,’ or ‘we watched the game’,” she laughed as she spoke to GiveMeSport Women.
“I think because we had been in such a bubble that we thought we would just go back to our normal life.
“I remember winning and in my head I just kept saying… ‘what is going on?’
“It was a very English response, we just didn’t know what to do. We said we were going to do something and we set out and did it, but in the manner that we did — we couldn’t have written it.”
It was England’s meeting with Spain in the quarter-finals that really made Stokes and the rest of the camp pay attention to how much was at stake. After a goalless first half, the Lionesses went 1-0 down in the 54th
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