Women’s European Championship: 1984 looking back when England lost to Sweden in the first final
They played halves in just 35 minutes, used a small football and nagged away on a pitch that can only be described as a swamp. The next day, most of the players were back in their daily jobs.
Women’s football really looked very different back in 1984, when England and Sweden competed in the opening European Championship final.
England are preparing to welcome the cream of European women’s football next month with huge crowds packing up well – known venues up and down the country and every match shown live by the BBC.
England captain Carol Thomas (right) shakes hands with her Swedish counterpart Anette Börjesson ahead of the second stage of the 1984 final on a burial ground on Kenilworth Road
![Ankle deep in the mud, the Swedish players can not bear to see when penalties decide the close final](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/21/13/59334135-10937825-image-a-33_1655812883363.jpg)
Ankle deep in the mud, the Swedish players can not bear to see when penalties decide the close final
![But it would be an honor for Sweden, the first European champions in the women's game](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/21/13/59334111-10937825-image-a-34_1655812910490.jpg)
But it would be an honor for Sweden, the first European champions in the women’s game
But 38 years ago, you would have been hard pressed to even know that England had made it to the final or even that the thing was happening. There was no television coverage in the UK and the newspaper’s columns were minimal.
Given that England lost that final in a penalty shootout, you could argue that it was the beginning of an unbroken curse until 2018.
But apart from the 2,567 souls who braved torrential rain to watch the match on Luton’s Kenilworth Road and a handful of women’s football fans across the country, would have been too upset by or even aware of the penalty pain at the time.
The 1984 tournament is widely regarded as the first Women’s European Championship, but it had not officially attached UEFA’s name as only 16 teams – less than half of their membership – actually took part in it.
Given that the English Football Association’s ban on women’s football had only been lifted in December 1971, it would have been understandable that the Lions were not yet fully roaring.
![Match action from the final in 1984, the second leg, which aroused minimal interest despite England's achievement to reach it](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/21/13/59334107-10937825-image-a-35_1655812934997.jpg)
Match action from the final in 1984, the second leg, which aroused minimal interest despite England’s achievement to reach it
![Only 2,567 fans braved the pouring rain to watch the match take place at Kenilworth Road in Luton](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/21/13/59334123-10937825-image-a-36_1655812969410.jpg)
Only 2,567 fans braved the pouring rain to watch the match take place at Kenilworth Road in Luton
Money and sponsorship were scarce, even the leading players were amateurs and the Women’s Football Association was run by volunteers.
One such volunteer, former player Flo Bilton, sewed England’s caps so that the women’s internationals could at least experience some resemblance to the men’s game, a million miles away.
“We trained at a sports center and we jumped on the floor at a two-day camp,” said former England player Gill Coultard. The Athletic.
You played a European final on Sunday and then went back to work on Monday. That was the norm.
“Many of the girls spent their holidays just playing football for England. They lost money, took time off without pay.
England captain 1984, Carol Thomas, told Sportsmail in an interview last year: ‘We would do our 9-5 jobs, then train extra, train for our clubs and then play on the weekend. We gave a lot to women’s football.
![Carol Thomas (above) was a pioneer in the women's game but has fought for recognition](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/21/13/48798743-10937825-Carol_Thomas_above_was_a_pioneer_of_the_women_s_game_but_has_str-a-37_1655813030472.jpg)
Carol Thomas (above) was a pioneer in the women’s game but has fought for recognition
![Thomas was the team captain for England's ladies to the European final in 1984 - where they lost to Sweden](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/21/13/48798761-10937825-Thomas_captained_England_s_women_to_the_1984_European_final_wher-a-38_1655813032346.jpg)
Thomas was the team captain for England’s ladies to the European final in 1984 – where they lost to Sweden
But they really had a great side. In the qualifying rounds, England scored 24 goals past Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, won all six matches and conceded just once.
It created a two-legged semifinal against Denmark in April 1984. England won the first stage 2-1 in front of a small audience on Gresty Road in Crewe, with Linda Curl and Liz Deighan on goal.
They also won the return with 1-0, Deborah Bampton scored a goal, to set up a meeting in the final with Sweden.
The first stage, which was played on May 12 in Gothenburg, only served to illustrate the popularity of women’s football between England and Sweden.
A record audience of almost 6,000 was present, the match was shown live and there was a media spotlight that England’s players had never experienced before.
“It was incredible, the TV coverage, the newspapers, we played (the first part of the final) at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg,” said Thomas.
– It was so much better organized. More efforts were made abroad than in England at that time.
– The plans abroad were in top condition and the organization or tournaments were better. In England we played at local levels.
Legendary Pia Sundhage, who would become Sweden’s top scorer, scored to split the team after the first 70 minutes of the final.
Sweden controlled the competition and missed a whole hat full of good chances, which meant that England came from there and felt much happier to be just one goal behind in the match.
Before returning to Luton, some vintage English weather intervened – and not in a way that would necessarily benefit the hosts.
The only surviving filming from the moment, a grainy and jerky clip that is now in the AP archive on YouTube, conveys how ridiculously muddy the plan was.
![England went on the attack in the second round when they tried to turn the deficit 1-0](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/21/13/59334117-10937825-image-a-40_1655813127624.jpg)
England went on the attack in the second round when they tried to turn the deficit 1-0
![England used the muddy conditions to their advantage to even out a draw and force penalties](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/21/13/59334125-10937825-image-a-42_1655813203846.jpg)
England used the muddy conditions to their advantage to even out a draw and force penalties
“Today it would have been canceled,” Coultard recalled The Athletic.
Then they said, “If we cancel this, when are they going to play it again? Do we have to play on Monday?”
‘Yes, people go back to work. It was obviously how tight it was for us.
Hope Powell, who played that day at the age of 17 and would later become England’s coach, told Sportsmail: “The home leg should really have been interrupted, conditions were terrible in Luton.
– Today the match should definitely have been interrupted. There was no grass on the pitch, the ball did not run, it was miserable conditions.
The worn conditions suited England, who equalized thanks to Curl’s shot just before half time which went over the Swedish goalkeeper Elisabeth Leidinge.
Without extra time, the match went to penalties with teams that could not be separated completely. In what would then become a familiar misery for various teams in England, they lost the penalty shootout 4-3.
It turned out that Sweden had trained on the orders of its head of state and after Leidinge saved from Curl and Lorraine Hanson, it was left to Sundhage to shoot home the victory kick and spark excited, albeit muddy, celebration.
![Pia Sundhage celebrates the decisive penalty kick when Sweden won the penalty shootout 4-3](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/21/13/59337741-10937825-image-a-39_1655813096343.jpg)
Pia Sundhage celebrates the decisive penalty kick when Sweden won the penalty shootout 4-3
![Hope Powell, who became England's coach, played the final in 1984 with Sweden](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/21/13/59337767-10937825-image-a-41_1655813179514.jpg)
Hope Powell, who became England’s coach, played the final in 1984 with Sweden
“I remember Linda Curl missing one of our penalties,” Powell said The guard Year 2009.
“But I remember it mainly because she was ballistic in the showers after the match.
“She was the joker on the team and just sent herself up – look away again, EC 96 shooter Gareth Southgate – but she did not make half a racket.”
Powell added Sportsmail: ‘The recognition that we were in a final then was never talked about. There was no media attention.
“You should take a shower when the game is over and then go home, go back to work, school or college the next day. It’s definitely not like that now.