With interest in the women’s game building further upon England’s triumph at the Euros, over 1,000 fans were in attendance for a Liverpool pre-season friendly.
England’s Lionesses reached immortality at the end of July, with a 2-1 victory over Germany clinching the European Championship on home soil.
It was a remarkable campaign for Sarina Wiegman’s side, who overcame Austria, Norway, Northern Ireland, Spain and Sweden on their way to the final, scoring 22 goals and conceding only two in six games.
Days later, it took less than 24 hours for England to sell out Wembley for their upcoming friendly against the United States on October 7, with over 65,000 general admission tickets sold.
There is a groundswell of support for women’s football, and Liverpool will be hoping to benefit from this as they return to the Women’s Super League this season.
After two years away, Matt Beard’s side are back in the top flight and can now look to return to the force they once were under the 44-year-old.
Preparations are well underway for the new campaign, and on Sunday they played their second friendly of pre-season at home to Women’s Championship side Blackburn.
Following a 6-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest at their Campus training ground, the Reds were back at Prenton Park with a crowd of 1,126 in attendance.
There were starts for three new signings in goalkeeper Eartha Cumings, defender Emma Koivisto and forward Shanice van de Sanden, while captain Niamh Fahey made her first appearance after signing a new long-term contract.
Yana Daniels opened the scoring early on, though Liverpool were soon pegged back by Saffron Jordan as Blackburn made it 1-1.
But Katie Stengel netted one and Daniels secured her brace after half-time to seal a second successive pre-season win for the Reds.
Cumings, Koivisto, Fahey, Daniels, Stengel and Taylor Hinds all played the full 90 minutes, while 10 other players shared a half each, including new arrival Gilly Flaherty.
Liverpool’s next friendly is up against Man United on Saturday, with Beard’s side making the trip to Carrington as they warm up for the Women’s Super League opener at Reading on September 11.
