Thought For The Day – Thursday 3^rd July 2025

The European Championships, in Women’s Football, are taking place.  The tournament is taking place in Switzerland.

The official mascot for “Euro 2025” is Maddli. The name “Maddli” is inspired by Madeleine Boll, a pioneering woman footballer in Switzerland.  Values of community, competition, culture, spirit and youth empowerment are represented.

The last time the tournament was held, in England in 2022, the host nation won the trophy. As the country started to “recover” from the global pandemic, the tournament brought people together.

This was England’s second senior major tournament victory in their history, after the men’s victory in the World Cup of 1966.  We should not forget the now, after last Saturday, four tournament victories of the men’s Under 21s team.

However, since their victory, “The Lionesses” have reached a World Cup Final. A “version 2.0” approach has been needed as there have been retirements and injuries. The outstanding Sarina Wiegman, from the Netherlands,  continues to manage and coach the team.

The Women’s Super League in England continues to go from strength to strength. Arsenal are the European Champions.  Chelsea, once again were the domestic double winners, and were unbeaten in the league season.   

England came through a challenging qualification period with key games in the winter. “The Lionesses” now face a difficult group phase in the 2025 tournament.

World Cup Champions Spain will again be one of the favourites.