The Lionesses returned to the Steel City for their final international friendly of 2024 and once again Sheffield showed what this game means to the city as 22,842 packed themselves into Bramall Lane on 2 November.
Bramall Lane has become a happy hunting ground for the Lionesses. Their last visit to the stadium ended in a 4-0 victory over Sweden, that catapulted the Lionesses to a memorable tournament victory against Germany in 2022.
Sheffield is well known as being the birthplace of football with Sheffield FC recognised by FIFA as the oldest club in the world. The rules were written within the city by Sheffield FC’s founders, Sir Nathanial Creswick and William Prest, with some rules surviving in todays game such as the freekicks, headers, throw-ins and handballs.
Bramall Lane is the oldest professional football ground in the world that still hosts professional games and was the first home of Sheffield FC before Sheffield United took it over in 1889, so there was no better venue in the city to host such an illustrious game.
Grace Clinton opened up the scoring after just six minutes, capitalising on Forward, Chloe Kelly’s, glancing header that cannoned back off the post only for Midfielder Clinton to smash home from close range to secure the 1-0 win for the Lionesses.
England had their chances to extend their lead, but struck the post and cross bar on numerous occasions during the remaining 84 minutes of the game.
Sarina Wiegman‘s Lionesses went into this game on a four-match winning streak after qualifying for the 2025 European Finals in July this year and capped off an impressive year with a win against Switzerland.
In the post-match conference, Wiegman had nothing but praise for her Lionesses but warned there is no room for complacency and that every position is still up for grabs keeping her players always on their toes.
She said: “These are young players who have earned the opportunity to show me what they can do in these games, others showed it in training sessions. So, let’s see how they play for their club and now they need to show that they can be consistent and make sure they are the best and make sure that they play at their best and it could be enough to be selected.”
Switzerland’s manager, Pia Sundhage, was impressed by her squad’s performance, coming to a packed stadium, with a great atmosphere will do nothing but push her players forward, to strive for greatness as they now look ahead to summer and a new challenge.
Switzerland will be the host nation at this years 2025 European Championships and they may come against the Lionesses once again, but this time on their home soil.
