5 Ways To Build On The Success Of The World Cup

Aside from the 'We Can Play' initiative, here are five somewhat light-hearted suggestions for ways to maintain interest in women's football.

Getty / Via fifa.com

If you watched the Women's World Cup coverage on the BBC, you probably heard a lot about how the FA want to take the momentum of the World Cup and increase the profile of the game. (Unless, of course, you used half-time commentary as a much needed tea/nap break!)

In case you weren't lucid/listening, a lot was said about making football fans more aware (and supportive) of women's football. While the World Cup certainly did that and the 'We Can Play' initiative will help that along, here are five more ways to keep that momentum going for the Women's Super League (WSL) and beyond:

1. Sell the kits on the high street.

Sports Direct website / Via sportsdirect.com

Now that more people can put names to faces, why not take it a step further and sell replicas of their shirts on the high street? While they might be available at matches and in club stores, they're still not that easy to get a hold of - most of the time there are only ladies-fit versions of the men's football kit!

Stores like Sports Direct and JD Sports have endless pages and racks of football shirts with the names of players on the back; what's a few shirts for the WSL and national women's teams here and there? Only more revenue for you, dear sportswear stores!

Besides, who doesn't want a shirt with Lucy Bronze's name on it?

2. Stream matches on BBC's Match of the Day.

(Who watches BT Sport, anyway? Okay, this is just a pipe dream...)

England's seven matches brought in a record 14.6 million viewers! Imagine what sustained streaming could do for the Women's Super League.

Admittedly, this would take a little work because BT have exclusive rights to the matches, but if the BBC could somehow wrangle a few big ones to stream on Match of the Day (or an equivalent), the WSL could reach even more viewers! Alternatively, BT could just attempt to expand their services, but that doesn't seem likely to happen...

3. Start sticker and card collections!

IQRemix / Via Flickr: iqremix

England Lionesses (above) prepare for a picture after their bronze medal win: their faces could be on stickers, one day!

Do you remember ToppsDirect's Premier League sticker collections? Of course you do, they're still around!

If the FA really want to reach more potential viewers (and footballers), what better way than to introduce a WSL sticker collection? Can you imagine a shiny Steph Houghton sticker? In a few years' time, kids could be trading those on playgrounds.

And, although it's too late for this World Cup, Topps could always make a sticker collection for Euro 2017, like they did for the Men's in 2014.

4. Endorse female footballers.

Now this one's a little bit of a cheat, because Jacqui Oatley talked about this a lot while leading the TV coverage of the matches, but it still holds true!

How many times have male footballers graced your TV screen, advertising this or that? The German national team have been sponsored a number of times by nutella, appearing in hilarious adverts (found here and here, in German).

How many times have you seen a female footballer in a similar advert?

The fact that female footballers will be featured in FIFA 16 is certainly an achievement, but don't let it stop there!

Unlike across the pond, endorsements of female footballers come rarely and they could stand to be increased; how hard would it be to have one of them endorse a brand of football boots? They all wear them. (Note: I said football boots, not lingerie - don't objectify them!)

Really, the message is: the more we see of female footballers in media, whether in ads, games or matches, the more we know about them and the more we can support them!

5. And, for goodness' sake, don't be sexist!

@england / Twitter / Via bbc.co.uk

FA's now-deleted sexist tweet, posted on Monday 7 July.

I'll be brief, since the FA have been shamed for this "unfortunately phrased" tweet across the internet, already.

Female footballers have been subject to enough shirt-swapping gags (which really aren't funny) and comparisons with men's football to last a lifetime. If even the FA can't phrase references to the Lionesses, or any women's football squad, properly, how can we have hope for other football fans?

You can advocate for the 'We Can Play' initiative all you want, but you won't be any good at convincing women to play, if you can't challenge sexism in the sport. And that starts with flyaway tweets, like the one above.

Next, try convincing sexist football fans that women's football is as high quality as/better than the men's. There's a good list here, to start.

And there you have it, a non-exhaustive list of ways to keep the momentum going. Here's to hoping women's football keeps growing stronger!