Georgia Stanway: It’s not women’s and men’s football now – it’s just football

Georgia Stanway believes it is time to “stop talking about how big women’s football is getting and talk about how big it is” as England prepare for Sunday’s Euro 2022 final against Germany at Wembley.

The tournament hosts played in front of a competition-record 68,871 attendance when opening their campaign with a 1-0 win over Austria at Old Trafford, and this weekend’s finale at the national stadium is a sell-out.

BBC One coverage of Tuesday’s 4-0 semi-final defeat of Sweden at Bramall Lane received a peak television audience of over nine million people as Lionesses fever swept the nation.

Midfielder Stanway said when asked about the watching masses: “It’s a good job I can’t see any of them, (watching) the screen or in the stands! My eyes are on the ball.

“But I think that’s where we’re at now. I think we need to kind of stop talking about how big women’s football is getting and talk about how big it is. We’re just hitting new levels every single time.

“I think on Sunday (the fans) are going to play a massive part in being our 12th woman.”

She added: “I feel like if we can inspire one person, we’ve done our job – whereas here we’ve got thousands.

“The amount of kids that will be at the game on Sunday is massive, the amount of people wearing England shirts – and it’s not necessarily male players’ names on the back anymore, it’s female players. And I think that’s the step we’re taking, that it’s not women’s and men’s football, it’s just football in general.

“We’re here to inspire, but we’re also here to get a job done – and for us to get a job done helps the future.”

Beating the eight-time winners on Sunday will see the Lionesses – playing their third Euros final, and first since a 6-2 loss to Germany in 2009 – claim a