‘It needs more recognition’: are you excited for Wales at Euro 2025?

Local TV

For the first time in our history, Wales have qualified for a first major tournament in the women’s game. It’s a remarkable achievement for a team that only started around 30 years ago, and with some world class players, there’s every chance that the women can do a Euro 2016 repeat.

Transcript

00:00In just a few short weeks, Wales will make history when they step out onto the pitch

00:14at Euro 2025 in their first ever major women's tournament.

00:18The men's side have had success in recent years, obviously with Euro 2016, World Cup

00:22qualification and players like Gareth Bale taking centre stage.

00:25But this summer is the women's turn to cement their legacy as Rhianne Wilkinson's side go

00:30up against the best of the best across Europe.

00:33Wales's national women's side only came into existence in the early 90s, so the rise really

00:38has been remarkable.

00:39But it's no secret that the build-up to the women's Euros has been a fraction of what we

00:42might have seen for the men's.

00:44How excited are people in Cardiff for the Euros next month?

00:47I think there will be a lot of people, because in Wales they back up quite good sport.

00:55I think people will be excited, just because it's Wales whenever something happens.

01:01The Welsh people usually love to support.

01:02It's a very stereotypical type of thing, but I do think that more people are recognising

01:09women's football now, which I think is very, very good.

01:11It needs the recognition and finally it's going to start hopefully getting there, you know.

01:15I think more needs to be spread about it, do you know what I mean?

01:19More, yeah.

01:20You don't really hear much about women's football, do you really?

01:22Do you think that people will be going down the pub for these games?

01:24I think so, yeah.

01:25Yeah.

01:26To be honest though.

01:27I work in a club.

01:28I work in a club, see, so there's more people coming in for games I guess and stuff like that.

01:34The women's game has grown tremendously in Wales, from just a handful of fans to the record

01:38of over 16,000 at the first leg of the Euros playoffs against Ireland at the end of last

01:42year.

01:43The sport is clearly growing and people want to see it continue.

01:46There's plenty of girls out there who want to play football, but there's not any girls'

01:50teams for them, so they have to join the boys' team.

01:52And when they're in the boys' team, they're quite isolated because obviously they're surrounded

01:56by boys.

01:57There's not really any girls there.

01:58So I think more girls' teams are needed and more teaching about the, like, you know,

02:03more awareness basically for, like, children.

02:05Yeah, I mean.

02:06I think it's good on the Wales women's team because it shows that they are competent,

02:11they can play football well or at a decent level as well.

02:15But I think now if they just maintain their professionalism and, like, the quality of

02:20football, like, say 10 years down the line, it will become a bigger thing and more people

02:25will get involved.

02:26So I think this would be a good response on this.

02:29It's what you say, because they are no mans.

02:32They don't get much appetising, much stuff, you know, and so, yeah, you're right about

02:38this.

02:39I was aware of it, but I think it's quite good that there's females participating in the

02:43sporting world.

02:44It's such a shame that there's not more publicity about it, and it's such a shame that if it

02:48was men's football, it'd be a huge different thing.

02:52Yeah, so I wouldn't know about it, I wouldn't want to be supportive because it's

02:55women's.

02:56It's less followed, unfortunately.

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