Women’s Euro 2025 legacy fund ‘shortchanged by £800k’

Senedd Members criticised plans to spend £800,000 less on securing a legacy from Wales’ historic appearance at the Women’s Euros compared with the men’s World Cup.

Heledd Fychan, Plaid Cymru’s shadow culture secretary, raised concerns about the Welsh Government’s £1m legacy fund for this summer’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 in Switzerland.

She said: “Whilst I welcome the investment from the Welsh Government, I don’t accept that nearly half the funding allocated for the World Cup in Qatar is acceptable.

“After all, it’s the first time ever in the history of women’s football here in Wales that the team has qualified for any major tournament.

“It’s a huge opportunity, not only to promote Wales internationally but to promote participation … especially among women and girls, as part of a preventative health strategy.”

‘Precious time lost’

The women’s team will kick off their campaign against the Netherlands on July 5, with games against France and defending champions England to follow.

Culture minister Jack Sargeant announced the £1m support fund and a marketing campaign aimed at promoting Wales in a written statement on February 18.

During topical questions the next day, Ms Fychan warned lessons have not been learned from an evaluation of Welsh Government-funded activities at the 2022 World Cup.

She told the Senedd: “This once again feels like a reactive approach rather than forming part of a wider strategy when our national teams in all sports qualify for major tournaments or major tournaments are held here.”

She added: “The fact that the first steering group meeting didn’t take place until last week and the fact that the fund was only announced yesterday – 11 weeks after the women’s team qualified on December 4 – seems to indicate that precious time has been lost.”

‘Time hasn’t been wasted’

According to the evaluation, the Welsh Government spent a total of about £3.8m on the 2022 World Cup including £1.8m on an equivalent legacy fund and £1.7m for marketing.

Responding to questions in the Senedd, economy secretary Rebecca Evans said: “The £1m fund is a significant opportunity for the Welsh government to support projects and activities that celebrate and create a legacy for Wales women’s historic achievement.”

Ms Evans stressed: “Time hasn’t been wasted, it’s been used in terms of engaging with our partners to explore what the core objective should be for this particular fund and for our approach to the tournament more widely.”

She said priorities will include promoting Wales to a global audience, projecting the nation’s values around equality and inclusion, and encouraging increased participation.

Ms Evans told Senedd Members that meaningful performance targets will be attached to the £1m fund, adding that expressions of interest will open on February 21.

‘Parity of esteem’

Gareth Davies, the Conservatives’ shadow culture minister, said demand for women’s football is growing while Welsh Government funding is going down.

He asked: “How is the Welsh Government ensuring sufficient resources are allocated … to engage more with women and girls to ensure there are no barriers to entry and we can ensure parity of esteem across the football sector?”

Ms Evans said: “This is the first time we’ve ever put in place a package of funding of this sort for a Euros tournament. I think that really signifies the keenness to maximise the potential.”

In his written statement, Mr Sargeant pointed to a £10m budget for sporting facilities in 2025/26 and £24m invested over the past three years.

He wrote: “The Welsh Government is working very closely with the Football Association of Wales and other key partners to maximise this unique opportunity.”