International Women’s Day: Sarina Wiegman on the evolution of women's football
Saturday, March 8, 2025
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As we launch a new era of European women’s football under UEFA’s Unstoppable strategy, England head coach Sarina Wiegman reflects on the growth of the game during her career.
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After hanging up her boots as a player in 2003, Wiegman immediately entered the world of coaching and developed her skills at the helm of domestic clubs in the Netherlands.
She moved into international football in 2014 and has since been named UEFA Women's Coach of the Year twice, winning the Women's EURO with the Netherlands in 2017 and England in 2022.
Now one of the most successful international coaches in history, Wiegman's career has progressed alongside the rapid development of the women's game.
"The game has grown so much since I started coaching, and also since I won Women's EURO with the Netherlands in 2017," she explains.
"When I started out as a coach, I basically had to do everything myself. I was the only coach who was professional when I started out.
"Everyone I was working with had another job, so that made it hard. They were working really hard, but I couldn't demand more of them than I did. Now, I have so many more people around me with a lot of expertise.
"We also have more visibility now, and that comes with performances. Performances get better when the facilities get better and when the staff have more expertise. That's what grows the game."
Raising standards across Europe
Through her own experience as a coach in the Netherlands and England, Wiegman is aware of the growth that needs to take place across Europe.
"In a lot of countries, it’s still where it was for me in 2015 [when starting out in international football]," she says. "Things are moving forward, but we’re not there yet. We still have lots of steps to take."
Last year, UEFA introduced Unstoppable, our women’s football strategy for the next six years. With bold and ambitious targets, it aims to raise standards in the women’s game even further across Europe.
Unstoppable will build on recent progress, such as the first-ever minimum standards framework for women’s national teams, introduced in 2023 to raise the bar across Europe.
"I think that’s really important because it sets the standard for every country that wants to get involved in tournaments," Wiegman says. "We want to grow the game; we want to get the game to a higher level. What we hopefully do is to close the gap."
The UEFA minimum standards for women’s national teams include:
• Full-time head coach with UEFA Pro Licence (or equivalent qualification) available at the national association
• Minimum one team doctor/two physiotherapists at all matches and training sessions
• Travel to match venues which prioritises the most direct route
• High-quality accommodation near training/match venues
• Maximum use of international windows
• Access to national training facilities, including elite equipment and professionally maintained pitches
• Players and association agreement on remuneration, parental and pregnancy policies and anti-discrimination
Women's EURO legacy
Wiegman hopes to continue her perfect Women's EURO record in Switzerland this year but knows the field has never been more competitive.
The tournament is set to be the most compelling Women's EURO yet, all while matching the men’s EURO in terms of infrastructure such as hotels, training facilities and stadium standards.
"We want to get to the highest standard," Wiegman explains. "It’s all about giving the players the opportunity to get the best out of themselves.
"When you have the right facilities, where you can prepare, play and recover, that will influence the performances of the players and teams in a positive way."
Even with the next Women's EURO fast approaching, the impact of England's victory in 2022 continues to be felt in the country. Over the past four years, 129,000 more girls have become involved in school football across the tournament's nine host cities.
"These girls – some will probably be the best in the country, some will just stay involved in football, some will become coaches, some will just play at a recreational level, but it all starts there," Wiegman says.
"It's amazing how much impact the win still has. That’s the deeper purpose we have in the women’s game."
Wiegman is hopeful EURO 2025 will have a similar effect in Switzerland.
"There's absolutely an opportunity to grow the game," she says. "I think the tournament will have an impact. I hope it will too, because if it grows in Switzerland, that means the whole of the women's game grows in every way. That's what we want."