The 31^st July 2022 actually happened, they did it. As Leah Williamson lifted that trophy in the air like Rafiki holding a young Simba the nation began a process of adaption. From being oh so close, nearly, just short – to winners.  On the morning after the night before radio programmes were awash with questions such as, “What will the legacy be?”, “How will the women’s game grow from here?”

But another pertinent question, one that perhaps has wider ramifications for English society is – what does this tell us about the difference in fans between the men’s and women’s game?

One sprightly early morning caller to a radio phone in commented that “there was no edge in Wembley Way” in the pre-match build up – seemingly a reference to the behaviour of fans at last years Men’s Euros finals. Far from wanting to dampen any celebratory mood let’s remind ourselves about the men’s Euro 2020 final held on 11^th July 2021. From around 10am on the morning of the final a London underground official said they had never seen such a level of drunkenness at an event so early on in the day. Fans prevented buses from moving by climbing on rooves, trees were ripped up and thrown into crowds as were glass bottles and cups containing urine. 47% of 7,000 ticket holders surveyed saw illegal drug taking while arriving at Wembley with many fans witnessing cocaine taking inside the ground too. One eye-witness described seeing four or five stewards being needed to hold one individual down. Another told of seeing a police officer assaulted for no apparent reason – a random punch seemingly from nowhere. People climbed traffic lights, fire works were let off, smoke bombs too, barriers were kicked down, numerous acts of vandalism were reported, children were seen cowering behind parents, unticketed fans forced their way onto the concourse and attempted to gain entry to the stadium, fence lines were knocked down, crowds tried to smash a co-op’s windows due to it running out of alcohol, disabled gates and fire exits were used to try and breach the stadium entrances, fans including those in wheelchairs were knocked over due to the push of the crowd. This is all before the game even began, not to mention the abhorrent abuse suffered by England players after the game.

Let’s contrast and fast forward one year. Footage of the crowd shows more women in attendance, more girls, more young people of primary age. Reports from fans on radio phone ins, news items and social media highlight a jubilant, supportive and friendly atmosphere both pre and post match.

The Met Police reported that in total 154 people had been arrested as part of their investigation into disorder at the Men’s 2020 Euros Tournament. 25 of those arrests came following a public appeal for information consuming a significant amount of police hours and taxpayer money . On the 31^st July 2022 there were 2 arrests, one who received a penalty notice for a public order offence and one who was released with no further action. Although not exactly comparable, on face value the difference is staggering.

So why the difference? Fingers were pointed at failures in stewarding and the police presence at Euro 2020. Promises were made to learn lessons. But neither the police or the stewards committed the violence nor the criminal acts.

Footage of the aforementioned scenes of disorder are widely available on social media. One only has to view this and look for at who were committing these acts. Sadly, written as a man, it’s men, groups of men. Mostly younger but pretty much all men.

But it was just after covid restrictions, people were blowing off steam, having a bit of fun, it had been a tough year. Let’s go with that. But then why the lack of women amongst the crowds? They were in the pandemic too. When considering this, the argument doesn’t hold water.

Should you pose the following questions to some of those involved in the acts of July 2021 such as – what if your daughter was watching you? What if your 5 year old sister was walking by, would you act the same way? – you may get some who reconsider their actions. You may also get some that say – but she wasn’t or I don’t have a daughter so it’s irrelevant to me.

When considering the above, two words come to mind – male entitlement. And at this mention, readers may turn away but I implore you to stay with it. No starker example can be seen in English society than what we have just experienced and that presents a genuine chance for change. Why did all those men feel it was ok to do those things, to completely ignore other people’s experiences? Why did everybody attending the final on Sunday choose not to do any of these things?

The football world now has an opportunity to raise the profile of the women’s game, to encourage more young girls and boys to get involved, that’s true. But talk of there now being more female role models misses the point. It is not for the women who have just lifted the trophy to be the role models we need, it is for us as a nation to take stock of what we have just seen, to recognise what the women’s game is doing right and what the men’s game has been doing wrong. And that includes fans, in fact, it specifically means the fans as we are the ones who can have the most impact on encouraging future participation in the game. What do we think is acceptable? What is ok? What do we want our game to be? Do we want our kids to be cowering behind their parents or singing, commiserating and celebrating alongside them? Now is the perfect time to interrogate ourselves and dig deep to find the roots of some of our more engrained societal issues.