RACHEL BROWN-FINNIS ON WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

By Paul Knowles R achel Brown-Finnis, a name found in the National Museum of Football’s Hall of Fame, is increasingly becoming a household name to fans. She is a top pundit, a football talk show host, as well as the latest member of The Pools Panel.

At 15 years old, Rachel was playing goalkeeper for Liverpool in a cup final penalty shoot-out against Croydon. “I feel really proud of what I did in my career, all pretty much as an amateur,” she exclusively told the Liverpool ECHO at a VIP event celebrating 60 years of the Football Pools panel.

“I played in the FA Cup Final for Liverpool at 15, that’s still very much a highlight. Brown-Finnis, who won 82 caps for England and represented Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympics, is welcoming the new popularity, and has great expectations for the England team.

“I’m proud of all of it and how much women’s football has grown and how many more women and young girls are involved in football,” she said. “It’s real proof and testament that it is a sport for everyone.

“I remember going to school on the Monday after being down at the FA Cup Final on the Sunday and no-one really knew about it.”

The growth of women’s football over the past few years has been exponential. Viewing figures reached 15.1million in the first months of 2022, with almost half of those never having watched any women’s sport before. “It’s unbelievable. To think that during the last World Cup, people went down to the pub to watch the football and follow their national team. That puts goosebumps on my arm because that’s a big sociological, generational shift.

“It’s a big difference and for that to happen, we know we’re here and that we’re here to stay. It’s not one or the other, it’s not men’s football or women’s football. It’s just football.

England are hosting the European Championships this summer, having finished fourth in the World Cup under the management of former Everton captain Phil Neville in 2019. “That’s what is changing in people’s minds. They see a national team and they want to follow it; they want to get behind them. It’s the Euros this summer, in this country, north, south, east, and west.

“Fans will come out, families will come out to watch and it should be an amazing occasion with Sarina Wiegman, the new manager at the helm. Maintaining a keen eye on the game, Rachel is still involved with women’s football, and regularly features on BT Sport talk show.

“She’s done it before with the Netherlands, they went on to win the European Championships within six months of her becoming manager. You never know, that could happen to England.”

Rachel started her football career at Liverpool then moved over to America to play within their university set-up in the late 90s, before returning to home turf in an Everton kit.

“Moving from Liverpool to Everton was bridged by a fiveyear stint in America and it’s a different landscape now,” she said. “Going off to America, that was the best-case scenario for me going to play in the University set-up over there.

“Coming back to Everton and then spending 11 years with them, winning an FA Cup and winning the League Cup a couple of times was amazing.” “Liverpool have gone down a division but are certainly looking good for promotion,” she predicted. “Everton have had a turbulent time, similar to the men’s team really.

“They’ve sacked two managers and are on their third manager this season. A big overhaul, load of players brought over the summer. The manager at the time then didn’t have long to work with them before he got sacked. “Jean-Luc Vasseurwas brought in, he’s a Champions League winner and was expected to turn things around and produce results but didn’t so has been sacked. It’s a tough time for Everton at the moment. They were hoping to fight for a Champions League spot, the top three, this season but that is not going to happen. It’s as simple as that. I think they’ll be looking at how they’re going to restructure things in the summer and how to move forward.”