Over 68,000 people at Old Trafford for the opening match, a packed Trafalgar Square during England’s matches and a final expected to break the all-time European Championship record with around 87,000 people in the stands.
The European Football Championship in England is over and in many ways it was a great success in terms of interest. Even before the final at Wembley, the total attendance figure is double that of the record summer of 2017 in the Netherlands. At the same time, plans are being made for the next women’s football European Championship in 2025. One of the countries hoping to host it then is Sweden.
– It would be a huge opportunity for Swedish football and a giant step for further development, says Göran Havik.
Together with Denmark, Finland and Norway, Sweden has submitted a preliminary host application which is supported by the other Nordic football nations, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. Göran Havik is the project manager for the Swedish part and according to him, the process is now fully underway before the final application is due on October 12.
– Goran Havik.
Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT
Compared with when Sweden last organized the EC nine years ago, the championship has grown considerably.
– It was very big then but now it is more or less on the same level as the big men’s events. It is extremely extensive and will require incredible resources from our host cities, says Havik and continues:
– After 2025, the question is whether it will not have grown so large that it will be difficult for us in the Nordics to compete. Now we are at the maximum limit of what we can handle.
One of the planned host cities is Stockholm. Last spring, the council decided to set aside SEK 45 million for possible hosting.
– I would say that is a sum that the city will get back many times over when you look at what it means for public health. But also what it means for the local business community, says councilor for sports Karin Ernlund (C).
In addition to the hope of a football party, she believes that an EC can also mean an energy injection for Stockholm’s women’s football.
– I think it is so important that children and young people have these role models to look up to and to see them play at the absolute highest level at home would really mean a lot to many young people in Stockholm, says Karin Ernlund.
– For me as sports councillor, it’s also about how we can support local association life to get more girls to start playing football and to get more girls to continue playing football, she continues.
– Karin Ernlund (C).
Photo: Thomas Karlsson
Since earlier it is clear that Stockholm is participating in organizing the men’s handball World Cup in January 2023 and the men’s ice hockey World Cup in 2025. As part of the stated goal of being the “event capital of the Nordics”, the city wants to complement these with a football European Championship.
– We would like to have this trio of championships as part of the restart of sports and the restart of Stockholm as an event city, says Karin Ernlund.
In January, the European Football Association decides who will be awarded the championship. In addition to the Nordic application, France, Poland and Switzerland have shown their interest in organizing the football European Championships.
Sweden’s national team captain Peter Gerhardsson is also positive about an EC on home soil.
– We have now won WC bronze and Olympic silver and the interest in Sweden has increased for us as a national team. I think it will be a fantastic opportunity if we also got the chance to play in front of a home crowd, he says to DN.