A new frontier for English football but a familiar full-time feeling of World Cup despair

Prince William, president of England’s Football Association, must have been glad in the end he didn’t cut short his holidays to watch the women’s World Cup final in Sydney.

There was plenty of hope and, inevitably given this is England, also expectation that the ‘Lionesses’ would roar to victory in the country’s first world showpiece since 1966. But once the final whistle blew, a familiar taste was left behind for England’s long-suffering fans: the tang of bitter, salty tears and the astringency of defeat.

In that sense, at least, England’s women’s team had notched up a sort of unwanted equality with the men.

There was some recognition ahead of the match that the whole nation ought to be more excited than it really was.

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Prince William, usually the English media’s anti-Harry golden boy, was met with a rare chorus of criticism for declining to go to Australia. He’d have flew Down Under in an instant if it was the men, came the refrain. Instead, he made a little ‘good luck’ video with his daughter, Princess Charlotte.

The UK’s English prime minister, Rishi Sunak, also took heat for not making the jaunt. At least he had the excuse that he had a country to run, an alibi not available to William, who one day will employ someone to run it for him. Sunak was also criticised for the seemingly paltry display of St George’s Cross bunting on Number 10 Downing Street, which was festooned from top to bottom with the stuff when the men’s team made the Euros final in 2021. Blasted Boris upstaging him again.

Nor were there big screens showing the match in London’s Trafalgar Square, which would normally hold a party for such a major national event. It was closed “for scheduled maintenance”, according to London’s authorities. Instead, mayor Sadiq Khan put some up some screens in Victoria Park out in the East End.

With a dearth of official fan zones, most people seeking atmosphere engaged in that old English tradition of heading to the pub. Even this was complicated by the fact that technically, if not in practice, they couldn’t legally sip their first pint until 11am, the moment of kick-off.

At 10am, the doors of the Regent pub in the trendy south London enclave of Balham were open. The sound system blared Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home), the siren ditty that has presaged the dashing of many an England fan’s hopes on the rocks of despair over the years.

“What’s going on Daddy?” asked a little girl carried on a man’s hip passing by outside. “It’s the Lionesses, sweetie,” he responded. “They’re going to win the World Cup.”

Inside, members of South London Laces, a thriving women’s football club, were, notwithstanding the licensing laws, oiling up and belting out a new anthem for the England team – Whole Again by Atomic Kitten. Its lyrics were retooled as an ode to manager Sarina Wiegman.

Em Hill co-founded South London Laces with Beth Towle in a Battersea sports hall in 2016, when the women’s game struggled compared to its exposure now. There were four people at its first session. Now the club has five teams.

“We targeted it at what I’d call the ‘lost generation’ – those women who would have played football but who were never encouraged to by anybody at school or at home,” said Hill, with a St George’s Cross painted on each cheek.

“It’s like a happy accident that we have grown to the size we have done.”

She said reaching the final was a “massive boost” for the women’s game in England. “You can see how they’re starting to capture the imagination of the country. This is a big moment.”

In her wisdom, Hill was wary of the threat posed by England’s Spanish opponents. “I’m hopeful. That’s all I’ll say.”

There was no such reticence from Mihir, who was watching the match with his sister, Meena. “Oh yeah, it’s definitely coming home,” he said, pointing to the matching slogan on his T-shirt as proof. An Arsenal fan, he ought to have known it’s the hope that kills you.

“Following Arsenal, you always try to keep up with the women’s game,” he said. Arsenal has invested heavily in its women’s team, including Ireland captain Katie McCabe.

“But the truth is – five years ago, I probably wouldn’t even have known the names of the England players,” Mihir admitted. “This is progress.”

The Regent was packed by kick-off. With the Laces occupying one half of the pub, another women’s club, Brockwell United, took over the over half. Randomers grabbed whatever spot they could.

A quarter of the crowd was men. There was none of the intimidating edge that you often find among supporters of the England men’s team. But as the game wore on and the superiority of Spain became apparent, the early nerves among the crowd gave way to a familiar kind of despondency.

It was vanquished briefly in when Spain, already 1-0-up, had a penalty saved by the talismanic England goalkeeper, Mary Earps. She could be seen on camera roaring “f*** off” after the save, sparking the supporters into angry defiance.

But it wasn’t to be for England. Spain held on for a deserved win. Instead of the champagne they may have hoped for, tears flowed for the England players and among the supporters in the Regent. Meanwhile, many thousands of Irish people across England breathed a guilty sigh of relief.