ENGLAND’S Women get Euro 2022 underway this evening against Austria at Old Trafford, and Salts Girls Football Club will be there in numbers.

The Bradford outfit are taking two busloads of kids, parents and staff to the match, and manager of the girls’ section, Pauline Hanratty, talked about how far away all this seemed a short time ago.

She said: “They’re between seven and 12, the ones going to the game, and they’re hyper-excited at the moment.

“It’s my daughter’s birthday and it’s all she wants to do for it.

“It’s a women’s match that is all sold out, which you couldn’t have imagined 10 or maybe even five years ago.”

Asked how the trip had come about, Hanratty said: “We were on the ball with this and pre-registered for tickets last year, so we could get them before they went on general sale.

“My daughter and I were going anyway, but we asked others at the club if they wanted to come and there were so many people delighted to join us.

“I play for an over-30s women’s team called the Guiseley Gazelles too, and there’s 26 going from there too, so we’ll meet up together.

“It shows the growth of female football and the enthusiasm around women’s sport and it gets you all excited.

“Three years ago, we only had 15 girls playing at Salts, and now we have Under-8, U9, U11 and U12 teams, so we’ve grown enormously.

“The girls at the club have been excited all year since we booked it, but the game itself is obviously the highlight.”

Asked about how inspired the Salts girls might be by their experience tonight, Hanratty said: “It’s massive because they get to see the high level that women’s football is now at.

“It’s also a chance to see their heroes in the flesh, which wouldn’t have happened if the tournament wasn’t at home.

“They know the individuals by name, but now they get to see these women, many of whom came through in the game at a time when there wasn’t the support and recognition for them that there is now.

“These women had to devote so much time and effort to get here now, and our girls can see what they’ve become.

“There’s a fanbase to support them now and it’s motivational to have that on your doorstep.”

Though some of these girls might want to follow in the footsteps of Ellen White and Jill Scott, there is more to this trip than that.

Hanratty said: “I think some of our girls would want to be footballers when they’re older.

“But in general, men’s sport has been on TV for as long as I can remember, whereas I only even realised the women’s FA Cup was on TV this year.

“But football and sport is open to everyone, not just men, and girls can benefit from it.

“They’re at an age where they can learn the qualities of team sport, and the support you get in that environment.

“Sport helps to promote things like community cohesion and can help us have a better world.”

Meanwhile, there will be local representation at the Women’s Euros, with Brighouse Town goalkeeper Becky Flaherty in the Northern Ireland squad.