From the valleys to the Alps: Wales' journey to UEFA Women's EURO 2025

For McAllister, a former Cymru captain and current deputy chair of UEFA's women's football committee, tomorrow's match marks an important milestone in the nation's football development journey.

Below, she explains how wise investment and an unwavering hunger for success have helped Wales over the line, and looks ahead to an exciting for future for women's football across Europe.

Laura, just how excited and proud are you as Wales approach their first-ever Women's EURO finals match?

I'm incredibly excited and very, very proud that we've got to this position, because it's been a long time coming.

I played in the first official Welsh team back in 1994 and that was a great honour, of course. But we always knew it was going to be difficult for us to qualify back then, so this first qualification means a great deal. It lifts a load off our shoulders.

If you talk to any coaches from federations that qualified for the first time, they always talk about the lightness in their step afterwards, and the sense of self-belief that comes with getting over the line, and so I'm very proud that we've done that.

What are your hopes for Wales at the tournament?

We're not coming to Switzerland to make up the numbers. We have a very clear confidence in our squad and probably have one of the best coaches – we're very fortunate to have Rhian Wilkinson with us.

We've got everything on our side, and when you go into a tournament like this for the first time, you can slip under the radar. Everyone knows about the bigger nations' players and their setup, whereas I think in our case, people won't expect us to be one of the qualifying teams from Group D, yet we believe we can do it.

Wales players celebrate Women's EURO 2025 qualificationSportsfile via Getty Images

As a former player, is there a part of you that wishes you were in this Wales squad approaching the tournament?

I can't imagine anything better than wearing the Welsh shirt and listening to the national anthem and seeing our flag, which is the most striking flag of any nation in the world, but we're all a product of our eras, and 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. I'm very excited for them and I can't wait to be at the first game in Lucerne.

Will we see Wales' famous Red Wall of fans in Switzerland?

We're definitely going to see the Red Wall! We've sold 2,500 tickets through our official ticketing channels, but obviously people have also bought tickets directly through general sales and we'll have a great contingent out in Lucerne and St. Gallen.

I'm really pleased with the profile of fans as well, there are a lot of women coming, a lot of players and coaches involved in the football community, but also a lot of families. I think we have done well in Wales to understand our fanbase, invest in them and give them a voice, and we have had great attendances recently, including 18,000 for our play-off game against the Republic of Ireland.

So, there is a huge appetite, and now we have to nurture our fans to make sure they enjoy this experience but are ready to come to every game we play, not just the big tournaments.

How can Wales competing at Women's EURO inspire more growth of the game back home?

We've invested very smartly. We're a medium-sized federation, but we've had great recent success with the men's side, and so it was anomalous that the women's side hadn't quite got over the line.

We were already thinking about legacy and the future a long time before we qualified, it's one of our strategic themes, and we are already well on course to beat our targets for participation, not just with more players but more coaches and officials.

Since 2021, we have seen a 52% increase in registered female players, with more than 19,000 in our system, including nearly 13,000 aged between six and 13.

A young participant on the UEFA Playmakers programme in WalesFootball Association of Wales

Over the past three years, the Cymru Football Foundation has invested £4 million (€4.66 million) to develop off-field and changing facilities that are inclusive for women and girls, and another £4.5 million (€5.24 million) to build full-size artificial pitches, which have dedicated and protected weekly access opportunities for women and girls. We also invest £500,000 (€582,000) each year into the running of two regional girls’ academies.

The other thing we want to do is ensure we have more female voices in the game – women at the top tables of football, on boards, at regional associations and in clubs, and qualification for Women's EURO gives us a huge boost and allows us to do these things quicker.

But, you can't start thinking about these things when you qualify, it must be part of a bigger plan and you need to be well-prepared to capitalise on the momentum when you do get over the line.

Are there other national associations that Wales has taken inspiration from for the development of women's football?

I think there are quite a few. I've spent a lot of time in Portugal with colleagues talking about how they have set up the women's game there, and how they've qualified for the World Cup and now three consecutive EUROs.

There is the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, where the game is culturally embedded for girls and women, but we are now showing we can go toe to toe with these teams, drawing home and away with Sweden in the UEFA Women's Nations League. Lise Klaveness, the Norwegian Football Federation president, is a good friend and fellow UEFA Executive Committee member, and we talk regularly about how they have increased investment over time.

But it's also important that we have our own model and our Welsh way of playing and coaching. Our UEFA Pro Licence courses are among the best in Europe, and attract a lot of very talented ex-players to come and do their coaching licences with us.

It's also important that UEFA and national associations work together to grow women's football, isn’t it?

Yes, we need to bring everybody on the journey, and it's been great to see countries like Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg recently develop their women's national teams and invest in the game.

We can't leave anybody behind, and everybody working in women's football is very collaborative and cooperative, sharing experiences, intelligence and data, because it's in all of our interests to make the foundations of the game consistently strong across Europe and beyond.

Laura McAllister has been a UEFA Executive Committee member since 2023UEFA via Getty Images

At the elite level, the standard of women's football is increasing exponentially as the game professionalises – this doesn’t just mean more money for players, it means improving the game in every facet – better pitches, better coaches, better strength and conditioning, better medical support, better technical support, better everything.

This is what UEFA's new Unstoppable strategy is about, and the overall investment into women's football is fantastic.

How can Women's EURO continue to grow beyond 2025?

I think Unstoppable will help the tournament continue to develop organically. Already we have seen increased commercial investment and broadcast deals that have brought a lot of credibility, and to sell 600,000 tickets before the tournament has started is fantastic.

Now, I think it's about nurturing that fanbase because the room for growth is phenomenal. A lot of these people are new to football, and different from men's football fans, so how we develop that fan experience is going to be very important. With the strategic plans we have in place, I will be very surprised if we don't sell out stadiums even earlier ahead of the next Women's EURO in 2029.

Finally, what would be your advice for any woman or girl thinking about following your path into the game?

If you get a choice, do it. We're very privileged to work in football, and women's football is such a growth hub that it would be a fantastic opportunity for anybody – whichever area they are in, whether that's playing, coaching, technical, medical, administration or governance.

Now is a great time to come into women's football because the game is growing so fast, and there are huge opportunities for everybody to make a professional career in sport. We need creative minds, different outlooks, and people who can offer something exciting and innovative.

Just seize the moment, because you won't regret it. Working in football will be one of the most exciting and roller coaster jobs you'll ever do, but the impact can be phenomenal.