Red Roses and Lionesses made 2025 a watershed year for women’s sport in England | OneFootball

England women’s football and rugby teams did something they had never done before in 2025: win major trophies in the same year. The Red Roses lifted the Rugby World Cup and the Lionesses retained the Euros. And it was not just these two triumphs that underlined English prowess in women’s sport, with Arsenal winning the Women’s Champions League and Charley Hull reaching a career-high of fifth in the golf world rankings – the highest for an Englishwoman since the rankings began in 2006.

The ripple effects of these victories and achievements have been felt across the country. Grassroots participation is rising, media coverage is expanding and more young athletes are aspiring to follow in the footsteps of the current stars. But of all the achievements, it was those in rugby union and football that swept the nation into a women’s sport fever.

Alex Matthews, the No 8 who scored two tries as the Red Roses overpowered Canada 33-13 in the Rugby World Cup final is in no doubt there is “extra noise, extra excitement” in her sport after that memorable day at Twickenham.The tournament, with its cumulative attendance of 441,356, broke several records, but the ones to highlight surround the final. A crowd of 81,885 watched Zoe Aldcroft’s team lift the trophy, making it the best-attended women’s rugby union game of all time and the second most attended Rugby World Cup final – men’s or women’s. It was not only those in person who came through with impressive numbers as the BBC, the UK broadcaster for the tournament, reported a peak audience of 5.8 million people tuning in from home – the most-watched women’s rugby union match ever on UK television, and most-watched rugby match of the year.

The numbers are a result of the building audiences for the Red Roses over the past few years but England winning that game sealed impact and progress for the sport as a whole. More than 40,000 tickets have already been sold for England’s next game at Twickenham – their Women’s Six Nations opener against Ireland in April, where they will look to extend that staggering 33-match winning streak. Domestic attendances have also increased. In the opening six rounds of England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby attendances were up 70.5% from the last campaign.

Matthews, the Gloucester-Hartpury star who now has two World Cup winner’s medals having also featured in England’s 2014 triumph, says she has experienced the impact this year. “Gloucester always brings a good fanbase, I am going to be biased and say it is the best in the league. There has been an extra few hundred bums on seats each week, which is amazing. It’s extra noise, extra excitement. There could still be more and going away to other clubs I almost expected them to have a few more fans there. I think we still need to jump on it more, make more of the success to our advantage at club level.

“Compared to 2014 [the main difference] is people just knowing. Being at Battersea the following day after the final I had two men come up to me and say they had been to every men’s World Cup and this was their first women’s one. They said this one was the best they had been a part of. Hearing those comments you are like: ‘We are doing something pretty cool and special.’”

The success of the staging of the tournament as a whole is one of the main reasons a host of New Zealand players have made the move to England’s league. The likes of Maiakawanakaulani Roos and Liana Mikaele-Tu’u have said the attendances, particularly for their bronze medal-winning match against France, have added to their desire to be playing in the PWR.

Andy Bull wrote on the eve of the final that England can consider itself the home of women’s sport and New Zealand’s Ruahei Demant, who in November signed for Bristol Bears until March, has mirrored that sentiment: “The support that has been so visible for women’s sport in this country is honestly world-leading, in my opinion. It sets a massive standard for what we can do better back at home, [and] what the rest of the world can do better.”

At grassroots level there has been an increase from 25,000 to 40,000 women playing rugby in England over the past five years. Matthews hopes it continues to thrive: “I think we [Red Roses] could be used more at community levels through our clubs,” she says. “Get clubs involved with us more, with game days and things like that. That is where it all starts. The importance of grassroots is humungous. They are the ones that keep the game going and growing.”

The Lionesses know what it is like to triumph in a home tournament after winning the Euros at Wembley in 2022. Sarina Wiegman’s team retained that trophy in July, becoming the first senior England football side to defend a title. The manner in which they did it also kept fans on the edge of their seats, fighting back from 2-0 down in the quarter-final against Sweden, 1-0 down against Italy in the semi-final and 1-0 down in the final against Spain to lift the silverware.

The tournament was held in Switzerland and the Football Association organised a homecoming celebration for the team that gave a snapshot of the immediate impact of the win. Three years earlier when they won the Euros for the first time there was a celebration in front of 7,000 fans in Trafalgar Square. Fast forward to 2025 and 65,000 supporters turned up outside Buckingham Palace to catch a glimpse of the players and the trophy. Then Wembley sold out for England’s 8-0 demolition of China in November, with 20,252 turning up in Southampton a few days later to watch them beat Ghana 2-0.

But at domestic level there has not been a significant rise in average attendances as there was after the Lionesses won in 2022. Nikki Doucet, Women’s Super League’s chief executive, believes the reason is because the 2025 competition was not a home tournament for England. “It’s different for it to be a home tournament versus an away,” Doucet says. “We would look at more of a trend over the past three or four years. If you look at attendances over that timeframe we see it growing. I think each club is trying to figure out how you make your women’s team a must-have for your local community.”

The league also has long term plans on harnessing the Lionesses’ success – the two Euros victories came either side of a run to the World Cup final in 2023, where they were pipped 1-0 by Spain – and building the WSL further. Doucet adds: “I think ultimately from a league perspective the goal is to be the most distinctive, competitive and entertaining club competition in the world. We want to have the best players in the world play here.

“The Lionesses at the moment are a massive part of that. They become better players if they play in the most competitive league in the world with the best players from the rest of the world. I think the league has a role to help develop the Lionesses so we are building something here to keep them connected to their local fanbase, to the England squad to minimise travel for them and they become the best footballers possible because we have got the best league in the world.”

The entire football pyramid has experienced a positive impact from the Lionesses win, which could lead to longer-term effects. The day after the final there was a 196% increase in searches for female football playing opportunities and according to England football participation levels have increased 5% since the major tournament. It’s not just playing numbers that have seen a bump either, compared to this time last year the numbers of female coaches and referees have grown by 12% and 29% respectively.

Women’s football is also coming to a juncture where certain parts no longer have to rely on national or club success to see increased support. Arsenal won the Champions League after a tactical masterclass beat the defending champions, Barcelona, 1-0 in the final in Lisbon in May. However, the club do not cite the trophy as the cause of their jump in average attendances. Arsenal, who are playing all their Women’s Super League games at the Emirates Stadium this season, have an average league attendance of 36,214 compared to 28,776 last season.

The club put it down to the increase in their work over the past few years of investing in the women’s team. Although the club do not credit it for supporter numbers, Arsenal’s women’s football director, Clare Wheatley, says the European trophy success can serve them well in the long term: “Winning the Champions League was not an end point for us, we want it to be the start of a period where we regularly challenge for the WSL and Champions League.”

So, 2025 will be remembered as a watershed year for English women’s sport. From the roar of the Twickenham crowd to the electric atmosphere in Basel, the athletes have shown what is possible when talent, investment and support align. Beyond the trophies, the year has sparked record attendances, inspired the next generation and shifted perceptions of women’s sport across the country. With professional leagues strengthening and England set to host the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and the European Athletics Championships in 2026, the momentum shows no signs of slowing.

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