Aston Villa Women star Alisha Lehmann believes that the 2023 Women’s World Cup will be a “big thing” in helping to “push women’s football more forward.”
The 2019 Women’s World Cup in France and Women’s Euro 2022 in England have both helped to boost the profile of women’s football.
The FA pushed through equal pay for England Women in 2020, and Wales Women agreed on a similar deal and the US Women settled their long-standing dispute.
The next Women’s World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand in the summer, which is expected to be another major boost for the sport.
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Speaking to talkSPORT, Lehmann candidly admitted that it is unlikely that men’s and women’s football will be equal during her lifetime.
However, the 24-year-old Swiss forward insisted that she wants to “live in the moment” and play a part in helping women’s football to evolve.
“I don’t think this will ever happen, to be honest, maybe in the next 100 years but we will not be here anymore,” Lehmann said.
“I hope that in the summer when we play the World Cup it’s a big, big thing. I hope that will push women’s football more forward.
“We just need to live in the moment and appreciate what we have now and obviously grow it.”
Lehmann has seen massive success on social media and boasts huge followings on Instagram and TikTok, with the Villa star claiming she is a “proper footballer.”
The Switzerland Women international said women’s football has been seen as “second class,” but she believes social media can help to change that perception.
“England probably is the picture everyone should look at because I don’t think in other countries it increased that much,” Lehmann explained.
“In Switzerland, for example, everyone’s still working, 90 per cent probably still work.
“I don’t think you can compare like anything between women’s and men’s football because it’s just so different how people look at us and how people look at them.
“It’s just not the same. Women’s football is always second class. I don’t think you’ll ever be first class because I think a lot of people still think that men’s football is the first priority.
“They don’t think about women’s football and I think that’s a big problem. Now social media is really helpful because people actually see, oh, we play football, we can play football.
“When they come to their first game, after they say, ‘Oh, it’s not even that bad’ they’re surprised but people judge before they even saw the actual game.”
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Topics: Womens Football, Football, Womens World Cup
Adnan Riaz