Whiteness of England Women squad is stopping too many girls from dreaming

Football is all about creating dreams but even the most ambitious and imaginative young players require some initial inspiration.

Before they can begin envisaging being part of a trophy-winning team or start dreaming about scoring goals galore, budding Lionesses need role models to whom they can relate.

That is one of the many reasons why diversity is so important and why it is legitimate to question the England team’s whiteness. Doing so should not be seen as a criticism of a very good side or a very good manager in Sarina Wiegman but an acknowledgement that visibility matters.

Young girls who cannot see anyone who looks like they do lack heroines to emulate – and that matters.

Like England France have reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2022 but unlike the Lionesses their 23-woman squad contains 15 black or brown players. By contrast the Lionesses have only three black players: Jess Carter, Nikita Parris and Demi Stokes, with only Carter having, so far, had any game time.

There is clearly a problem – but it has nothing to do with Wiegman’s Euro 2022 team sheets and everything to do with the pathways leading players to the England squad.

The English female scouting system lacks sufficient bodies on the ground, the necessary resources and the imagination required to look in the right places. Why don’t chief scouts ask organisations like the charity Football Beyond Borders to help them identify gifted young players from non-conventional backgrounds?

Demographics also come into things. Some areas – the north-east for example – are much whiter than others. Even so, scouts do not seem to be identifying promising young black players in much more diverse regions. Are they not looking in the right places? Do laziness or