‘Crazy’ record crowd for a friendly and £11 season tickets – how Portsmouth Women are aiming to grow their fanbase off the back of England Lionesses’ European Championship displays

Sadler was at Brighton’s Amex Stadium to watch the Lionesses demolish Norway 8-0 in a group game earlier this month.

He had tickets for Tuesday’s semi-final against Sweden, but wasn’t able to make it. But he will be at the national stadium on Sunday for England’s third Euro final and their first since 2009.

And he is hugely excited about the ‘legacy’ that he hopes will follow the tournament, regardless of whether England beat Germany and lift the silverware or not.

‘The speed of the growth (in women’s football) is crazy,’ he told The News.

‘To know you’ve been part of that tidal wave, if only a small bit, is so satisfying, so good.

‘But it’s what comes next that is important. Hopefully there will be a lasting legacy, and not just nationally in the Super League, but in the local communities of the third and fourth tier clubs.

‘We need to work towards ensuring football is on the PE curriculum for girls at schools, to remove the stigma that it’s just a game for boys

Sadler saw the growth in popularity of the women’s game at first hand earlier this week.

Pompey Women - who play in the third tier of the English women’s pyramid - shattered their record attendance when a crowd of 2,906 witnessed a 3-2 win against Brighton at Fratton Park.

Even though under-18s were admitted free, it was still a remarkable number of people on a Monday night for a pre-season friendly.

‘Off the back of the legacy hopefully being created by the Euros, we were expecting to generate a crowd,’ said Sadler. ‘But I was surprised (at the attendance). We smashed our previous record which was 1,250 against Southampton - it was crazy.

‘We’d had a fantastic chat with (Pompey CEO) Andy Cullen, and off the back of the Euros we wanted to expose the local game. Andy was keen to ensure it was affordable. It was brilliant to have a crowd of nearly 3,000.

‘Hopefully we can generate that sort of excitement when we play at Havant and the John Jenkins Stadium.

‘We’ve just started selling our first ever season tickets. It’s just £11 for under-18s - that’s £1 a game. An adult season ticket is £39, you can have two for £50 or a family or four can watch for £100. Again, it’s all about being affordable.

‘We want to grow our fanbase, that’s the ultimate aim.

‘We are lucky to be in a community which is football mad.

‘There’s a lot you can do (when you attract a crowd of almost 3,000 for a friendly) but you need the right people to make it work for you.

‘Danny Cowley is behind us, his daughter plays, and Andy Cullen has been fantastic.

‘We had a really positive meeting with Eric Eisner and Andy Redman earlier in the year, talking about how we can grow the (women’s) club.’

One of the results of those talks was Sadler’s role becoming a full-time one.

As a result, he has been visiting local schools and clubs to promote Portsmouth Women in particular and girls/women’s football in general.

For example, he will soon start working with Portsmouth Grammar School who are setting up a girls team for the first time.

‘We want to link up with local clubs - Fleur De Lys, AFC Portchester, Havant,’ Sadler explained. ‘We can offer players the chance to be flag wavers, ball retrievers, mascots. We can have player appearances.’

When their work schedules allow, some of Sadler’s Pompey team also conduct school coaching sessions.

‘The players are the biggest role models,’ he said. ‘They are the people who can inspire the next generation.

‘They can inspire the youngsters who will be the Lionesses in 10 or 15 years' time.’

Pompey’s first National League Southern Premier fixture of 2022/23 is at Ipswich on August 21. A week later, they host MK Dons at Hawks’ Westleigh Park.

Sadler’s team will continue playing home games in Havant until the John Jenkins Stadium - featuring two artificial pitches - is completed on the site of Moneyfields’ former ground in Copnor around early October.