Laura McAllister: 'This isn't just sport, it's nation changing'

Professor Laura McAllister, UEFA vice-president, will never forget the summer of 2025.

It was the summer her beloved Wales – or Cymru to give them their traditional name – finally appeared at a major women's tournament, the latest milestone in a journey that has been years in the making.

A former international player, respected academic and tireless advocate for equality in sport, McAllister has been a central figure in the growth of the women's game in Wales and across Europe. Her leadership roles at UEFA – Social and Environmental Sustainability Committee chair and Women's Football Committee deputy chair – reflect her deep commitment to progress and inclusion.

Now, as UEFA's first female vice-president, McAllister shares her thoughts on Wales' journey, what other smaller nation associations can learn from their success, and what lies ahead for women’s football in Wales and beyond.

Laura, firstly, how do you look back on Wales' first experience of a major women's tournament?

Personally, I feel immense pride and emotion. Qualifying for a major tournament for the first time is a historic milestone for a nation like Wales, ranked 30th in the world. It’s a testament to years of preparation, strategic planning and investment.

While we didn’t get the results we might have hoped for, there’s absolutely no shame in our performance – especially in what was dubbed the ’group of death’ alongside England, France and the Netherlands.

But now it’s about what comes next. Our direction of travel is right, but qualification is only another step on the journey, and next time, we want to compete in the group, advance from the group and keep on improving.

A lot of work has gone in over several years to create a platform for success. Can you tell us about that?

Legacy is often a buzzword in sport, but it must be more than that. For Wales, legacy means using this tournament as a springboard for long-term, systemic change. It’s not just about the emotional highs or the media buzz, it’s about building something lasting, because passion without purpose is pointless.

Legacy must be intentional, sustained and inclusive, and we’ve taken a holistic and imaginative approach.

That includes investing in better facilities that are comfortable and welcoming to women and girls, and a deeper cultural shift, which reflect our values, identity, and aspirations.

But there is more. From public broadcasters embracing women’s sport, to cultural initiatives like a tournament poet and youth-led leadership events, we’ve made sure this journey resonates with the people of Wales and we have a growing young female audience that we hope will form a solid, sustainable grassroots base that has a clear pathway into the game at whatever level they can achieve.

Our motto, 'For us. For her. For them.', has guided us – and now we are a nation of three million people qualifying for a EURO.

We’ve shown that size doesn’t limit impact, and in fact, smaller associations may be better positioned to maximise legacy because we must be innovative, resourceful and community driven. Our populations are very proud and that's an incredibly powerful tool to have at our disposal. In recent years, it's been great to see Gibraltar, Malta, Armenia, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg developing their women's teams, and hopefully they can be inspired by what we have achieved and even teach the larger associations a couple of things.

In Wales, our vision for the future includes hosting future events like the Men’s EURO 2028 or potentially the Women’s World Cup in 2035, but it’s not enough on its own.

Major tournaments can be catalysts for social change – creating a virtuous circle of qualification, competitiveness and elite success, but women’s football will only thrive where there is real equality for girls and women in all areas of life.

The Wales players you’ve seen in Switzerland are more than athletes – they’re powerful role models who wear the shirt with pride and purpose. This isn’t just sport, it’s nation changing.

It's a long way from your own experience of becoming a Wales international in 1994…

For me, it was very different. There wasn't a formal pathway for female players. I grew up playing with boys until I was 12, but that was then prohibited and I was unable to play formal competitive football, so I drifted into other sports such as hockey, netball and track and field.

I went to university in London, and discovered Millwall Lionesses, and after graduating, returned to Wales to play for Cardiff City, which was a very well-organised club and competed in the English pyramid.

With the national team, it was only in the 1993/94 season that the Football Association of Wales launched an official women's national team, after a letter I'd written with some of my team-mates at Cardiff. I was fortunate enough to be selected for our first Women's EURO qualifiers, and I think we played three games away from home in seven days, travelling by coach between Germany, Switzerland and Croatia. We had very little preparation time, but we kick-started the national team and that allowed us to progress to where we are now.

I'm very proud to have played for Wales in the era that I did, I'm proud that we paved the way for the girls who've come after us, and now this team is going to pave the way for the next generation of girls.

With a playing background and off-field career that involves political science and sporting governance, there can be few people who better recognise the social power of football…

Football touches people everywhere, in every community. It's naturally an inclusive sport, it doesn't require specialist equipment to play in a basic way, and yet it's only recently that we have properly acknowledged the game's power to make a difference.

When we talk about sustainability, it's not just environmental matters, football can make a huge impact socially – it creates friendships and naturally brings people together, as well as providing physical benefits for people of all ages.

Environmental sustainability is also important, and integral to football. We use parks and open spaces, we travel a lot, especially at the elite level, and we have more spectators than any other sport, so it's right and proper that we engage in environmental projects. I'm really proud of the work that we're doing at UEFA because our ambitions are starting to be matched by reality and the expectations that everyone – national associations, clubs and other organisations – will come with us on this journey.

It's a privilege to work combining my interests in football with sustainability – social, economic and environmental – because these things fit together so neatly. However, it's our responsibility as decision-makers, and as a governing body, to ensure that the game is making a positive impact in every possible area that we can.

Women's EURO 2025 made important contributions to this area…

Both the Men's and Women's EURO having a human rights advisory board really allowed us to address the rights of everybody – workers, volunteers, players, the fans and the public, and children who attended the games. It sounds esoteric, but when you drill down and talk about our anti-racism projects, the #FootbALL programme or tackling social media abuse, it shows how inclusive football can be, capturing the power of the sport as a force for good.

By being a force for good, football becomes stronger. More people respect it. And I think the women's game particularly can be an important lever because it doesn't have to absorb the less pleasant parts of the men's game. We're on our own path and we can grow it in a sustainable way that is inclusive, diverse and promotes equality.

The players are often outspoken too, and talk about their authentic selves. They're great role models, whether it's campaigning against racism or for LGBTQ rights, or just for better conditions for female players, and I think that's a very positive thing.

There are so many wins with women's football and the values that we profess that you can't imagine many commercial sponsors not wanting to get involved with the women's game. It's such a positive environment to be linked to.

Finally, the coming season will see the kick-off of the new UEFA Women's Champions League format, as well as the launch of the UEFA Women's Europa Cup – how exciting is that?

Promotion and investment in club competitions is critical because it encourages national associations to invest and strengthen their own leagues, and this is a huge part of UEFA's Unstoppable strategy for women's football.

The Europa Cup will give some of the smaller leagues the opportunities to compete at a European level, which spreads opportunities more widely. I think it will be a great success.

We've seen the Conference League have that effect in the men's game, where the league phases have worked, and I think it will work really well in the women's game too, because there's jeopardy in more matches, more competitive games and more teams from more nations playing against each other, while ensuring the best teams are still involved.

The excitement that surrounds the club game is important because you can only have a Women's EURO every four years, so the club competitions have to be strong and sustainable, and that will generate stronger national teams as well. I'm very optimistic and excited to see it.