Millie Bright column: Women’s football getting bigger – we want to reach level of men’s game

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England and chelsea defender Millie Bright has been writing columns to the BBC Sport website.
Where women’s soccer can go this weekend showed. I hope the fans are excited by it since it does excite the players.
Our families and friends that attended our first Women’s Super League match of the season against Tottenham on Sunday were saying”wow, you are playing at Stamford Bridge” because it is a shift from playing Kingsmeadow.
We’re becoming bigger and bigger and we wish to be in exactly the identical level as the men’s game in terms of playing in stadiums regularly, but we still want fans to keep buying , coming into matches and filling them.
We know it won’t happen straight away but we have shown the caliber we’ve got. That is the place we need to drive for women’s football to grow. We talk a lot about increasing the amount of people who attend games but in order to do that we must be at stadiums.
Despite 25,000 at a 40,000-seater Stamford Bridge I believed there was an atmosphere. I could listen to the fans throughout the game. After the goal went in it was not electric!
It was a special event. It’s an honour. The numbers are going to grow.
We want like this. It will be one to remember for quite a while and hopefully it’s the start of a season that is silverware.
I have always said it is fantastic to have a particular allocation of free tickets since it gets the attention. But we want the game to move in a way where more and more fans are purchasing tickets. It is a business at the conclusion of the day.
We had to get a new audience’s attention and I believe we did that in the World Cup and have lasted . That’s been revealed.
We do not simply need it to be in this bar although at Chelsea, I feel as though we’re a force that is driving. We want it to be for the advantage of the league.
We are in a situation where we do have to push against Chelsea. We would like people to see what we’re doing and believe”we deserve this as well”. That is the way you produce change and get improvements – it is about people making their club change too and seeing it.
We’re pushing on days like Sunday and for change in women’s football, you can see it for yourself. It was not only about the match but everything – we’d police cars and fire engines and available . There was all for the lovers to make it.
Since that has been their very first match in the league I have respect for Tottenham and it was a performance that is fantastic. They didn’t give up and put up a fight to the last second. It shows the progress of these women’s game and it’s going to be this season – the yet.
I am so pleased with our striker Beth England because of her performances recently. She’s the goal on Sunday and I thought she played great.
If there’s one player which it is possible to search for inspiration as somebody who has been told”you are most likely not likely to arrive”, it’s Beth.
She has shown people wrong through hard work and determination. I’m so happy for her because I’ve played with her for many years and from a young age at Sheffield United and Doncaster Belles.
You always wait a bit once you first get into the England squad since you’re getting to know individuals but as she comes into it more and more, she’ll relax.
She could be the Beth that we know. She is going to soon be flying onto the pitch once that happens. When she keeps working hard she’ll be among the finest in the league.
People on the outside don’t always understand that which we’re currently discussing in the England camp or what we are attempting to reach, however, it is about progressing, being adaptable and locating a new means of playing with.
There are not any changes set in stone. It hasn’t been stated that Lucy Bronze will play at midfield, we just need to be able to change up things.
We didn’t win our two games – drawing at 3-3 with Belgium and losing – so enthusiasts need to be more patient but they were our matches following the World Cup. We made errors but we aren’t perfect.
It won’t be plain-sailing since we are trying new things. They won’t come off immediately – which takes time. I really don’t think that it’s anything. It came down to sloppiness from the games and mistakes which were made separately.
We’ve got two years before Euro 2021 so it is not about being perfect right now. We must trust that the process and think we will be prepared and firing at the level in two years’ time.
Millie Bright talked to BBC Sport’s Emma Sanders.
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