All The World's A Stage

Celtic goalkeeper Megan Cunningham believes the success of the Women’s World Cup can provide a real boost to the domestic game in Scotland

- Paul Cuddihy

WOMEN’S football has gained centre-stage over the past month as the World Cup has taken place in France, culminating in Sunday’s final as the United States retained the trophy with a 2-0 victory over The Netherlands.

The tournament was an opportunity to showcase what the women’s game has to offer, and the teams competing did just that. The quality of the football on show, in terms of technique, athleticism, competitiveness and entertainment, was top-class, and it will no doubt have made many sceptics reassess their opinion of women’s football.

That will please both fans and players already involved, and the hope, particularly given the media platform the World Cup was given, is that it will generate even more participants throughout all levels and areas of the women’s game.

Celtic goalkeeper, Megan Cunningham, certainly hopes this will be the case. She has enjoyed the tournament, both as a TV viewer and a spectator, having travelled over to France to cheer on the Scotland team in their opening group-stage game against England.

While that game, and indeed Scotland’s participation, delivered disappointment and heartache, Cunningham believes their presence represents a great step forward for the game in this country.

“Scotland were very unlucky in the tournament, particularly with some of the decisions that went against them,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong – you can’t throw away a three-goal lead, but by the same token, I think we were very hard-done-by with some of the new rules that were implemented in this World Cup.

“I went over for the England game. It was a fantastic atmosphere and it was really good to see the girls playing. There were 13,000 fans there – most of them Scotland and England fans – and that’s a big turnout for a Women’s World Cup game.