How many times has England been in a Euro final?
Englands through to the finals of Euro 2020, and quite rightly, the whole nation is beside itself with excitement. Never has a win been more needed than after the past 18 months; Gareth Southgates team has managed to help us forget  however fleetingly  about Covid-19 and all the other heavy issues that have dominated life recently. But if you think that this is the first time that footballs been coming home since 1966, youd be mistaken. England actually reached the finals of Euro 2009  its just that it was the womens team who got us there. You may also like Oh, the irony: these sexist footballers now have to train with the womens team  Under Arsenal legend Faye Whites leadership, our women stormed to the finals of the UEFA Womens Euro in Finland, eventually losing to Germany. That competition was the first time England had reached a final since 1984, when we lost to Sweden on penalties. In fact, England womens (more recently known as the Lionesses) have been way more successful than the mens teams at the Euros. The women have been both finalists and semi-finalists twice, compared to the men who have only reached the semi-finals once before, and are now facing their first final. The Lionesses are a seriously impressive crop of players, with the likes of Lucy Bronze inspiring girls all over the world to get stuck into the game. She led her team to win the SheBelieves Cup over in the US in 2019, and scored during the 3-0 victory over Norway in the quarter-finals of the 2019 FIFA Womens World Cup. The FA Womens Super League was only made fully professional back in 2018, with 200 players receiving full-time pay for the first time. That means that many of our players were juggling part-time jobs while playing for their clubs and country. The idea that so many lived such normal and probably quite hectic lives for so long  compared with their male peers  is pretty wild, if not inspiring. When it comes to international football, theres no need to pick a gender to support but when we have such a brilliant womens team  which has a proven record of success  one might hope that this kind of football fervour will translate to offering them more support for their future tournaments.