Associated PressJul 28, 2025, 07:01 PM ET
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Englandhead coach Sarina Wiegman called for greater investment in women’s football as her side celebrated Euro 2025 success at a “very, very special” reception at 10 Downing Street on Monday.
The Lionesses successfully defended their Women’s European Championship title with a penalty shootout victory overSpainin the final in Basel,Switzerlandon Sunday. Having become the first England team to win a major tournament on foreign soil, the squad flew home to attend a reception hosted by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and sports minister Stephanie Peacock in central London.
The team arrived just before 7 p.m. BST, with No.
10 decorated for the occasion with St. George’s flags draped over windows and bunting along the railings.
As Wiegman rose to speak to those gathered in the Downing Street garden she joked that “this is different from standing next to a pitch.”
She added: “I have to make my apologies [for giving] you lots of heart attacks. You all made it through and we made it through and that’s why we’re here now.
“The team is just incredible, we won the Euros but making the final, we’re already legendary, what the team has done and the team behind the team.
“Thank you so much for having us here.
It’s very, very special to be here and to be in this very nice garden with the way you set it up with all these pictures, it makes it more special, it’s the first moment it sinks in a little bit because it was surreal what happened last night.”
Wiegman, speaking a few hours before the UK government announced a new package of measures to boost access to grassroots football, used the moment to call for further investment in the game.
“This incredible team won the Euros and then straightaway sent a letter to you, the Government, asking for attention and asking for access to football for all girls,” Wiegman said. “Steps have been taken but we’re not done yet, we have to keep moving forward and we need a little bit more.”
“We need some more investment,” she said. “We’re not there yet.
In England we’re up there but England needs to stay the trailblazer, it needs to be the big example. The players first but also the FA, the clubs, the Government, the country, the fans — let’s keep being the trailblazers.”
In her own speech, Rayner congratulated Wiegman’s team on defending their title “with grit, with determination and with skill.”
Source: Espnsoccer
