Euro 22 in Milton Keynes: 'We hope it inspires a love of football'

England international and Arsenal star, Leah Williamson, who grew up in Milton Keynes says the Scots Sports and Social Club in Bletchley said it was "my Wembley"

The first of four games to be played in Milton Keynes as part of the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 competition will kick off later.

The city is one of 10 venues in England where matches in the 16-team tournament will be held, with Stadium MK hosting four games - three Group B matches and a semi-final.

England captain and Arsenal star Leah Williamson grew up in Milton Keynes, meaning there is already strong local interest in the fortunes of the national team.

And Friday's match between Spain v Finland - at the home of League One side MK Dons - is almost sold out.

What does hosting the matches mean to people in the new city?

'It could be me one day'

Emerson Valley Junior School's years 5 and 6 girls' football team have been inspired enough to think "it really could be me one day"

It was a virtual visit from Williamson that helped inspire children at Emerson Valley School, which is just 10 minutes away from Stadium MK.

It has 300 tickets to the games in the new city and raffled them among pupils who had won weekly awards.

They in turn invited their siblings and friends, ensuring strong representation of the school community at the matches.

Hayley White, executive head teacher, says: "It is giving people a chance to go to the games who wouldn't normally go, so we hope it inspires a love of football and sport in those who might not normally have gone.

"It doesn't happen often and as it's probably the only time it will be held in Milton Keynes we thought it was something we had to do.

"The atmosphere is also something that many won't have experienced before - it's going to be fantastic."

Mrs White adds that the school - which she says has a very strong girls' football team in Years 5 and 6 - is linking the tournament with its values of community, pride and aspire.

And it was Williamson's visit that first encapsulated the "aspire" element and was just the start of getting the children inspired about the competition.

"There is a bit of a stigma that football is all about boys but to have a women's international player promoting it was a really great opportunity for the girls to think 'that could be me one day'," she says.

"Especially with Leah being from Milton Keynes, there was a feeling that it really could be me, and that was fantastic."

'We're incredibly proud'

Stadium MK, home of League One side MK Dons, is a host venue for the UEFA Women's Euro's Football tournament

Destination Milton Keynes, the city's tourism service, says the tournament is a "huge opportunity" for women and girls in the area to "engage in a healthy lifestyle through football".

It has listed a number of aims as a result of the competition, which it hopes to achieve within two years, including the development of more competitive and recreational opportunities to play football for girls and increase the number of schools delivering girls' football, both inside and outside the curriculum through Girls' Football School Partnerships.

It also hopes to double the number of FA-qualified female coaches and referees and have a minimum of 26% of participants, coaches and referees come from ethnically diverse communities.

Councillor Pete Marland, the council's Labour leader, says the city is "incredibly proud" to be hosting some of the matches.

"It's really important that we develop more opportunities for girls aged 5-11 to get involved in this sport but also, that as a country, we create more opportunities for women to play, coach and referee," he says.

"We've seen a huge response from local organisations and schools in Milton Keynes, who have really supported and promoted these events."

'I was born too early'

Jan Emms says it is "brilliant how the women's game has progressed"

Bedford's Jan Emms, the mother of 2004 Olympic badminton silver medallist Gail Emms, says it is really exciting to see the women's game finally coming to prominence with the arrival of the Women's Euros in the nearby city.

She travelled with the unofficial England women's squad - unrecognised by the Football Association - to the Women's World Cup in Mexico in 1971 and on her return received a six-month ban from the FA.

"It was awful, we were chosen to go out and represent out country and really be a pioneer, a trailblazer for the women's game, and to come back and to be banned and to have no recognition whatsoever it was a bit of a knock," she says.

"To me personally - and to most of the girls who played in 1971 - we think it's absolutely amazing and we're so pleased, so delighted, that the women's game has come on [and is] getting the recognition it deserves.

"We're thrilled to bits [about] the opportunity now for our children, our grandchildren - young girls will watch these Euros and they'll think 'maybe I could do that?'

"The women's game now I think has really, really captured the public's imagination.

"It's brilliant how it has progressed, but we all think we were born too early."

UEFA Women's Euro 2022

The UEFA Women's Euro 2022 competition runs until 31 July

• The UEFA Women's Euro competition started on 6 July and runs until 31 July

• There are also venues in Brighton, London, Manchester, Rotherham, Sheffield, Southampton, Trafford, Wigan and Leigh

• It is the second time England have staged the competition after 2005, when Germany triumphed. The Netherlands won the last finals, in 2017, on home turf

• The other matches at Stadium MK are Denmark v Finland on 12 July, Finland v Germany on 16 July and the semi-final on 27 July

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