Germany's players celebrate winning the Women's 2005 European Championship final after defeating Norway in the final at Blackburn
Germany celebrate winning the 2005 Women's European Championship after defeating Norway 3-1 in the final at Blackburn in front of 21,105 people
Host country: England Dates: 6-31 July Venues: Old Trafford, Manchester; St Mary's Stadium, Southampton; Amex Stadium, Brighton; Stadium MK, Milton Keynes; Brentford Community Stadium; Leigh Sports Village; Bramall Lane, Sheffield; Academy Stadium, Manchester; New York Stadium, Rotherham; Wembley Stadium.
Coverage: All 31 games will be shown live across the BBC. Click here for more information

The last time England hosted the Women's European Championship, Peter Bonde, the then Danes boss, said that you could smell the football in the air.

Seventeen years ago, the competition was much smaller than it is today.

Four of the games were held at the new home of the rugby league side.

Alex Stone, England's media officer at Euro 2005, said there wasn't enough interest from football clubs to host games.

The "biggest ever" edition of Euro will be slicker and shinier.

In 2005, supermarkets sold sticker albums with superstars of the women's game, but now they are selling sticker albums with superstars of the women's game.

There will be 16 teams competing over 25 days, with 71,300 tickets sold for the opener between England and Austria.

In comparison to the last time England hosted the event, just 957 people turned up for a match between France and Italy at Deepdale.

The Euros have come a long way for the women. What did Euro 2005 do for the women's game?

The programme for the 2005 Women's Championship
The programme for Euro 2005

Working as a postwoman to pay for boots

The Lionesses are one of the favorites to win the European crown, but it was a different story when the Euros came to the UK.

England's boss stated before the tournament that the women's game here is second-class.

The top women's team in England at the time was Kelly Smith's club, but six months before the Euros she had to work as a post woman.

"It's important we put on a good show this summer, especially with the reputation the women's game has in England - or doesn't have," Smith, interviewed by the Times, said at the time.

Men cling on to negative images that are out there.

Powell took her players to La Manga for warm-weather training but Eniola Aluko was not there.

Aluko stayed at home to revise for her A-levels in psychology, media studies and English.

As the tournament neared, stars of Coronation Street and Hollyoaks such as actor Bradley Walsh were wheeled out to help sell tickets priced £5 for adults and £2.50 concessions. Tickets for Euro 2022 range from £5 to £50.

Three years ago, the Commonwealth Games were hosted by the City of Manchester Stadium, and a crowd of 29,092 watched 17-year-old Karen Carney score the winning goal.

The media officer for England went down to the tunnel area to arrange post-game television interviews.

I ran backwards down the tunnel after Karen's score. Stone ran to the foot of the tunnel after shouting something.

I was taken to one side by the Uefa media delegate. I apologized and said I knew how much they wanted to shine.

Three points is not enough in a group game. The future development of the sport in England could be affected by it.

Isabell Herlovsen was the youngest scorer at Euro 2005 at the age of 16.

There was a change in public perception.

"It was the first time I'd seen people walking down the street wearing England jerseys with our names on," Carney said, speaking to the Football Association website in 2018.

The opener at Manchester City was amazing. There were a lot of people there.

Karen Carney celebrates scoring England's winning goal against Finland at Euro 2005
Karen Carney was 17 when she scored England's late winner in a 3-2 victory against Finland at Euro 2005
Karen Carney celebrates scoring England's winning goal against Finland at Euro 2005
Carney went on to win 144 senior caps for the Lionesses
England's players celebrate scoring against Finland at Euro 2005
Despite defeating Finland, England did not get out of the group stage at Euro 2005

England ended their tournament early after losing to Sweden and Denmark in their first two games.

The women's game was already winning fans in England despite the national team's disappointing performance.

A whole new world

Adam has a good memory of Euro 2005. He was the first person to pay to attend a football game.

He traveled 50 miles from his home in Mobberley to get to Ewood Park to watch England play Sweden.

England's team coach was held up getting to the ground as fans lined the approach.

Even though Powell's team lost, it opened up a whole new world for him. He doesn't know how many women's matches he has attended.

It was exciting to have an international tournament in this area. The players who stood out for me wereFaye White and Rachel Unitt.

They were selling flags outside of the ground.

The women's game grew in England.

She said that Euro 2005 was the first time people had ever watched a women's match. That's wonderful to hear.

When Euro 2022. tickets went on sale, he was one of the first in the queue and paid over the odds for eight matches.

England fans at Euro 2005
In 2005, around 70,000 fans watched England's three group games at the City of Manchester Stadium and Ewood Park

When Norway captured hearts in Warrington

Georgia Stanway said that England's current crop of players have been letting off steam by watching Love Island.

We have a place to chill out. Stanway said that they got the TV on and bean bags out.

Back in 2005, it was Big Brother that was reality television's ratings winner.

The summer of Norway captured the hearts of the people in the town.

A letter published in the Warrington Guardian newspaper summed up the mood after the Halliwell Jones Stadium, which had only opened the previous year, was selected as a venue.

"Euro 2005 will have games at the town's hot new venue, it's good to see that an event as prestigious as it will have games at the town's hot new venue," wroteDebbie Sanderson of Orford

England coach Hope Powell (left), captain Faye White (centre) and England men's boss Sven Goran Eriksson at the group stage draw for Euro 2005 at the City of Manchester Stadium
England coach Hope Powell (left), captain Faye White (centre) and England men's boss Sven-Goran Eriksson at the group stage draw for Euro 2005 at the City of Manchester Stadium

Germany's victory over Norway was watched by 1,600 people. There were 5,722 people in attendance for the semi-final win over Sweden.

Norway coach Bjarne Berntsen was quoted as saying: "The Warrington people have been tremendous, and I think they love our girls."

The 15 matches were all shown live on Eurosport and the final was shown on the BBC.

A 20% share of the English audience watched the hosts lose to Sweden.

Prior to Euro 2005, Stone remembers having to call media outlets to tell them the score of England games so it appeared in the morning newspapers.

The Euro 2005 was not without its problems. There were five games that failed to draw a crowd of 2000.

There was controversy a few days before the final when Uefa's president said that sponsors of women's football could make money by promoting their physical attributes.

Companies could use a sweaty, lovely looking girl to play in the rain. He said it would sell.

His comments a year after Sepp Blatter called for players to wear tighter shorts provoked an angry reaction.

The success of Euro 2005 was praised.

"I'm sure we will move women's football to another level," said the Uefa chief executive at the end of the tournament

Euro 2022 in England will be bigger and better than before.