Switzerland has discovered women’s football for itself. The home European Championship could become a gamechanger for the current and future generations of footballers. The big mood is still not everywhere.
The atrium burst at the seams. Not only the approximately 500 seats were occupied: many children had found space in front of the first row of seats, behind the last row the people were in two more rows. Why? The FC Wiedikon women’s football department invited to public viewing in Zurich on Thursday evening – EM group phase: Switzerland – Finland.
The club’s women had expected 50 guests. “Now it has become more than ten times,” the player coach Silja Schnyder was amazed. “This is blatant, mega, overwhelming. I get wet eyes when I see that people find cool what we’re doing here.”
Regardless of the outcome of the game, the organizers could already feel like the winners: “I believe that it is always difficult for women, in sport in general and in football again extreme. I find it questionable that you always compare women and men. And not only with professionals, but also in popular sports,” said the 31-year-old.
The women’s department had actually expected to watch the game with families and friends. “But there are also a lot of people who we don’t know; this shows that it becomes more important.”
Em in Switzerland writes impressive numbers
Switzerland discovers women’s football for itself. On a small scale; And much more on the big one. 822,000 people pursued the live broadcast from the Swiss opening game against Norway (1: 2) to SRF 1. According to the transmitter, this corresponded to a market share of 65.8 percent. In addition, there were over 200,000 livestream starts on the online platforms.
Before the second game against Iceland (2-0), around 14,000 people took part in the fan march through the Bern city center to the Wankdorfstadion. The audience records in the stadiums tumble: Already at the game of England – Netherlands (4: 0), the UEFA reported that a new record for an EM preliminary round was achieved with a total of 287,438 fans in the stadiums. Mind you at the end of the second day.
EM success as a gamuchang for women’s football?
Five days ago before the opening game, more than 600,000 tickets were sold for the tournament. Also a record that the women’s football fans in Switzerland had not expected. The national players have almost become stars overnight. Your jerseys are selling better and better.
The chance that the sustainably changed something for the kickers in a country where skiing, ice hockey and men’s football absorbing complete attention is now appearing real. The European Championship could become a “Game Chang”.
“Grandiose mood” around the Nati, …
The reporters of the sports show are on the road for a long time and collect many impressions. The mood in the games of the Swiss people doesn’t leave anyone cold. The fan march in Bern was simply “terrific”. The mood among the Swiss games “outstanding”.
Diie reporting on the Swiss kickers has increased significantly. On TV, on the radio or online – no medium will pass the European Championship these days.
In Basel, young people kick at the fan festival.
Bern as an epicenter of the European
Bern is something like the epicenter of the EM mood. The fan festival in Bern with over 2,000 people had to be closed on Thursday evening before the kick -off due to overcrowding. In general, the fanzones that lure with different hands-on actions and partly with football sites also score. Even if many visitors are therefore not interested in the women’s European Championship.
It should also be emphasized particularly positively that the “Nati” of women actually reaches all of the families. Men, women and many children – everyone is together in the stadium. And there is practically no aggression.
… but in many places there is also no European mood
The truth also includes that in many places – especially when Nati does not play – there is no EM feeling. With the fan marches, the UEFA chore the good mood pictures in the cities that did not exist if the fans were traveling individually to the stadium. There is usually a folk festival atmosphere around the stadiums.
Otherwise, there is hardly anything from the European Championship in the cities. There are often only references to the EM in a few selected streets and otherwise not at all. The games without Swiss participation are hardly interested in interest outside the stadiums. So there was no bar and no restaurant in the city center of Geneva that the German game had shown against Poland. Not to mention a television in the beer garden.
In Sion, people preferred to enjoy their food rather than watch the game.
Less interest in the smaller cities
As a rule, foreign fans arrive in the cities on the match day and create a mood on the fan festival (short). Once the game has run, move on with your national team. Here, too, the friendly coexistence between the fan groups should be emphasized.
And in the smaller cities and venues, interest in the Nati is also significantly lower. For the all -important game of the Swiss against Finland in Sion, the interested parties were able to pursue the duel in front of some restaurants. However, the mood was limited. Many preferred to enjoy their food. The footballers have not yet reached everyone.
A special female football story
The history of women’s football at FC Wiedikon is a special one. Eight years ago, two young women from the district were presented to the president to found their own division. They simply had their snouts full of having to go across the city to kick.
Today the club has two women’s teams and a team for beginners – with a total of 96 players. There is now one of the largest young departments in Zurich. And it is part of the identity of the women’s division, which became self-employed last year that all players in the club have to volunteer.
In the 1-1 of Switzerland, the roof almost flew away
So there was a big public viewing in the game of Swiss against Finland. And in the atrium, the people always cook very high again – with awarded opportunities or in Finland’s great option, the goalkeeper Livia Peng was just able to parry. After the 1-0 for the Finns a little later it was silent. When it comes to compensation, which made the quarter -finals perfectly, the roof almost flew away.
Now against Spain? “A game to enjoy”
Silja Schnyder and her fellow campaigners were cheering in their arms. “It is so mega cool. Above all, that people have such a pleasure. The children below who sing and jump like this,” she described. Some ran completely detached with flags in front of the canvas. So it goes on – and the mood before the quarter -finals next Friday (9 p.m.) should even take a speed again. Especially since the game plan makers have planned with foresight: Switzerland plays again in Bern as a group of group behind Norway.
Silja Schnyder celebrates the 1-1 against Finland.
“I think you have to go against Spain now. It’s a bit of shit for us,” said Schnyder and laughed. “But that will be a game that we can just enjoy. The mood remains all the better now.”