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Football fans are counting down the days until the Women's World Cup. The tournament takes place in July and will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. And if the Euro 2022 is anything to go by, it looks like it will be the sporting event that will dominate the summer. Indeed, it is the biggest women's football tournament since England won the Euro 2022 last year, beating Germany in the final. And it follows the last World Cup in 2019, which was won by the United States in France. But while these events are household names, sports fans have not always been as interested in women's football as they are now. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The statistics speak for themselves. According to FIFA, a combined 1.12 billion viewers tuned into official broadcast coverage of the 2019 world cup across all platforms. The average number of viewers doubled that of the previous tournament. And the 2022 Women's Euro was watched by 365 million globally, European football governing body UEFA said. This was double the amount of the previous tournament in 2017. Aside from viewers, sponsorships for women’s sports increased by 20 per cent in 2022; showing brands are keen to support it. So how did we get here? Not by accident. The Football Association (FA) launched a strategy to boost people's enjoyment of the sport. Speaking about the strategy in a statement, Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA's Director of Women’s Football, said: “When we launched our Women’s and Girls’ strategy, Inspiring Positive Change, in October 2020 eight months into a global pandemic, we could not have foreseen the incredible two years that lay ahead. While things in the world have changed, we have remained constant in our belief that football has the power to change lives for the better and improve opportunities for girls and women across society." Success became just as important as strategy. With England's Lioness team winning the Euro 2022, this boosted the profile of women's football, making it ever more popular. And with more popularity came more funding, which in turn raised the awareness of women's football. The cycle continues. “The power of women's football was evident on 31 July 2022, a day that will live long in the memory for us all. One goal in the strategy was to 'win a major tournament’ but none of us could have imagined the impact of victory in a home tournament," Campbell added. "When the Lionesses lifted the UEFA Women’s EURO trophy at Wembley Stadium in front of 87,000 fans, it was a moment of great joy, but it was also a moment of great opportunity. The reaction to the success and the way it transcended society has given us an unprecedented chance to change the future of the women’s game forever. It has turbo charged our strategy with demand growing right cross the game. We have seen more girls stepping forward to play, more fans filling our stadiums and new commercial partners all wanting to be part of this great movement for change." Meanwhile in an article, sports scientist Dr Julia West also pointed to the increased exposure of women's football to people through the media as boosting women's football. She wrote: "Free match-streaming and online channels have also helped raise the profile of the women’s game. Watching accessible matches brings players and teams into your home regularly and creates a fan bond. Players become household names. Even those who don’t watch or support football will know the names of a few more players than they think." She added: "The success of women’s national teams across different sports also helps springboard the achievements of the Lionesses into our news reports more regularly. Possibly the worst regular coverage occurs in the printed media, with the exception of our Euros 2022 championship title reporting. The constant stream of posts, opinions and results keeps the game and its developments in current memory. This is vital for the future and success of competitive teams and leagues as it provides a platform for further investment." It is clear the popularity of women's football is on the rise, then. Long may it continue. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Legendary British wrestler Adrian Street, who once beat up the notorious pedophile and presenter Jimmy Savile, has passed away aged 82. The trailblazing star whose career in the ring was known around the world, reportedly died at Cwmbran's Grange University Hospital in South Wales on Monday. His wife Linda, who also worked as his ringside manager and a wrestler, told the BBC: "He'd had a heart problem a while ago which was resolved. "But then he had a stroke earlier this month which resulted in a bleed on the brain. "He was recovering from that at home when he developed colitis - a chronic inflammatory bowel disease - which later turned into sepsis. That's what killed him. "It all came about so quick. I've still not come to terms with it yet." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Street, who born in Blaenau Gwent, Wales in 1940 rose to prominence in the wrestling business in the 1970s and 1980s thanks to his androgynous and exotic persona but didn't pull any punches when the bell rang in the ring. During his career, Street claimed to have something in the region of 12 to 15,000 matches with his final bout occurring in June 2014 when competing in Birmingham, Alabama. One of his most infamous stories is that he was once booked in a match against Savile in 1971 at the height of the notorious figure's fame. Of the fight, Street is quoted as saying: "The promoters were trying to put Savile across as a bit of a tough guy. "But I was having none of it. I kicked his legs from underneath him, then I picked him up by his hair, held him upside down and dropped him on his skull. "Then when I looked down at my hands, I realised they were covered in hair – Savile’s. I’d torn huge clumps out of his scalp." Adrian Street on WHY He Beat the SH*T Out of Jimmy Savile! (Disgraced TV Presenter) www.youtube.com Another reason why Street was so famous was a photograph that was taken of him by Dennis Hutchinson for the Sunday People newspaper in 1973. The photo shows Street in his full glam rock wrestling gear, complete with long hair, make-up and colourful outfit standing next to a group of miners in a coal mine in his hometown. According to Street, this was a revenge picture. "I want to show them what I’ve made of my life, what I’ve become since leaving Wales," the icon told Hutchinson. The Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller called the picture the most "important photograph taken in Britain after the war." Street's career has been cemented in several documentaries including a WWE film called Imagine What I Could Do to You which was released in 2019. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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