Man Utd striker Alessia Russo says ‘women’s football is finally getting credit it deserves’ | Football News

With a new TV deal and increased sponsorship, Manchester United’s Alessia Russo told Sky Sports women’s football is finally getting the credit it deserves – but that there is more that still needs to follow.

Since the start of the 2021/22 WSL season, Sky Sports and the BBC have shared broadcasting rights for the women’s top flight in a deal described as “game-changing” by the FA’s director of the women’s professional game, Kelly Simmons.

Last month, across Women’s Football weekend, when the WSL took prominence during the Premier League international break, cumulative audiences of more than 1.5m tuned in to watch the women’s game – and more than 40,000 were at Wembley for the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Arsenal last week.

In November, the WSL also set a target of almost tripling attendances by 2024. It’s an ambitious target, but the announcement Barclays will inject £30m into the women’s game over the next three years will certainly help.

So wheels are certainly in motion. Russo, speaking from the ShEsports Cup Christmas Special Show, a female-led tournament to inspire more women and girls to take part in eSports, is already feeling the effect of the increased exposure.

“It’s been amazing for women’s football,” she said.

“I’ve seen so much more on Instagram, and Twitter, and it’s finally getting the credit it deserves.

“Hopefully, there’s much more to come, I love seeing all the highlights and being a female footballer you love switching on Sky and seeing a WSL game being advertised. There’s still a long way to go, but it’s come a long way.

“Our game should’ve been on Sky years ago! It’s happened now, and I think we have to use it to our benefit and hopefully with the Euros this summer too it’ll keep the progression of the game going forward.

“Every person in the WSL has a look at how things are progressing. We want to keep growing our attendances at games, and the finals, and the FA Cup final was such an amazing event at Wembley.

“It’s an amazing statistic for women’s football, and that’s the future – it’s exactly where we want to go for all the games. We’d love to get more and more people to finals and week-in, week-out at clubs.”

Russo has seen exactly how big the women’s game can be first-hand. After a handful of WSL 2 appearances as an 18-year-old with Brighton, she moved state-side to play college football for North Carolina Tar Heels, who regularly welcomed 3,000-strong gates.

The US top flight, the NWSL, had an average attendance in excess of 7,000 – more than the WSL’s 2024 target – in its last full season with fans in 2019, and viewing figures on a par with Major League Baseball for its TV coverage in 2020.

“It’s massive out there, probably bigger than men’s because they have so many other sports – basketball, American football, baseball – so women’s football kind of outdoes the men,” Russo said. “We can learn from that system, the crowds they attract, the fanbase and following they have is unbelievable. In England, it’s going in the right direction, but getting more exposure is key and it’s what they need more of.

“I wasn’t overwhelmed when I went, I loved it. For me going into a college, I wasn’t really expecting that many fans, but in the first game we sold out in a stadium of 5,000 seats. Week in, week out you’re getting about 3,000 and that’s crazy for a college team, but I loved it. It was great, and the support from the college is great.”

Alongside the wider game, Russo is getting plenty of additional recognition herself this season. A niggling hamstring injury which proved difficult to shake off ruined her 2020/21 campaign, but the 22-year-old has returned with a bang with three goals in six starts for Manchester United this season.

That earned her a recall to the England senior squad, nearly two years on from her previous call-up, and though an impressive performance in a 20-0 World Cup qualifying win over Latvia may not have been the sternest test to impress Serina Wiegman, it made her the Lionesses’ quickest ever hat-trick scorer – despite starting on the bench – with her rapid trio of goals coming in just 11 short minutes.

“I was just happy to be back in the squad, but I didn’t know it was the fastest hat-trick until I came off and someone told me,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll be mentioning it to the grandkids one day!

“It was really nice to be back. When you’re out with an injury, obviously I wasn’t anticipating being out for so long, but sometimes that happens with rehab and it was amazing to be back around the squad. I was enjoying being back around the squad, and training with the best players in the country. Then I was lucky enough to get an opportunity, it was great and I loved being back around the national team.

“When you go through an injury, you’ve always got to keep your mind focused on other things. One of the things I thought about was right, I know rehab is hard, but think of where you want to go and remember how much you enjoyed it when you were there. I always remembered getting out on the pitch, playing well and hopefully being involved with England, because I’d had a little taste of it before and it made me want it even more.”

Alessia Russo was speaking from the ShEsports Cup Christmas Special show. The SheSports Cup is an all-female gaming series developed by broadcaster Rachel Stringer and Blueprint Sports and aims to inspire a new generation of women to participate in the world of gaming and other sectors of sports and entertainment. For further information follow @shesportscup on Instagram.