Captain Leah Williamson said her England team had “changed the game in this country” as she celebrated their historic win at Euro 2022.
They lifted the trophy and sang Sweet Caroline in front of thousands of fans in Trafalgar Square on Monday.
“We said we wanted to leave our legacy in winning, and that’s what we did,” Williamson said.
“The legacy of the tournament was already created before this final match – what we did for women and young girls who can look up and aspire to be us.”
“I think England hosted an incredible tournament and we changed the game in that country – and hopefully across Europe and the world.”
The Football Association is now ready to hold talks with manager Sarina Wiegmann over an extension to her England contract following Sunday’s success.
Dutch Wiegman, currently under contract with England until 2025, has now won back-to-back European Women’s Championships after leading the Netherlands to the 2017 title.
“She will have a couple of weeks off. When she comes back we will have a conversation,” said Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA’s head of women’s football.
“It’ll be like rocket fuel”
On the legacy of England’s Euro 2022 triumph, FA chairman Debbie Hewitt said: “We need to get girls across the country playing football in schools.
“Once they have that opportunity, all of them, to play in the schools and associate them with the clubs, then you’ll see it just take off. It will be like rocket fuel, the impact of victory.”
Hewitt said the Premier League could play its part in supporting the legacy of Euro 2022 by continuing to invest in the women’s game.
She said: “We had over 17 million viewers last night watching this game in this country. If you are from the Premier League. Why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of that?”
England midfielder Fran Kirby has said he wants success at Euro 2022 to “become normal”.
“We want people to come and watch and sellout crowds in this country and around the world, so hopefully we’ve played a big part in that and hopefully we can continue to grow it,” Kirby said.
Ella Toone, who scored England’s first goal in the final, added: “That’s what we’ve set out to do in this tournament – to make the nation proud, fight for women and get young girls involved and I think that we did for every single woman in this world.”
“There will be expectations but we have an amazing team”
With less than a year to go until the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, expectations will be high for the new European champions.
“I think we should first take time to think about it, enjoy it before we start thinking about it [World Cup]Kirby said.
“Obviously there’s going to be a lot of expectations around that, but we’ve got an amazing squad, we’ve got an amazing manager, so yeah, we’re really excited.”
Defender Lucy Bronze said she is very keen for the England team to get the star on their badge that comes with a World Cup win.
She said: “The Euro is fantastic, especially in our home country, but at the moment there is a little star missing from our crest on the England shirt. It’s definitely our mission to get that star there.”
Germany gets a warm welcome in Frankfurt
Thousands of fans welcomed beaten finalists Germany at Romer Square in Frankfurt on Monday.
Manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg and her team addressed the supporters from Frankfurt City Hall.
Germany have an incredible record at the European Women’s Championship, winning it a total of eight times, most recently in 2013.
Striker Alexandra Popp (centre) and manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (right) stepped out onto the balcony of Frankfurt City Hall with the rest of the German squad
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