Message Of Support Laid Out For Lionesses Flying To Women’s World Cup

The European champions, the England women’s national team, will fly out to Australia for the Women’s World Cup on Wednesday over a giant message laid out wishing them good luck for the tournament.

It reads ‘LIONESSES, YOU’RE OUR PRIDE’ with the giant message made up of thousands of individual words of support. It measures 100m across and 20m wide and is visible from 20,000 feet. The message will be laid out in Thornbury Park which is on the flight path from London Heathrow Airport.

Former England greats, Faye White and Rachel Yankey were in attendance as the flag was unveiled yesterday and left their own messages of support. White, who captained the Lionesses at the 2007 and 2011 tournaments wrote “This tournament provides you with another unique opportunity to create amazing memories that will last a lifetime and achieve something massive for our sport. We are right behind you, cheering you on with every kick. BELIEVE! Go create history!”

Yankey wrote “Sending my best wishes and unwavering support to the Lionesses as they embark on their journey to Australia. Believe in your talent, resilience, and unbreakable spirit. Leave your mark on the pitch, and we know you’ll make our country proud!”

While the current generation of Lionesses may take flying to matches abroad on specially chartered flights for granted, for White and her team heading to China for the 2007 tournament, there were no such assurances. “We were on a normal, standard flight going out,” she tells me. “I do recall that we did get an upgrade into business class. It was a long way and we had to think about jet lag and getting sleep etc.”

“I remember the excitement amongst the team of us, once we walked on, turning right rather than left into economy and having a long way to go being cramped into little seats. Instead, we all had the beds that moved. The excitement and chatter lasted a long time, we were taking pictures of it and all sorts.”

The individual messages from supporters were collected as part of an online competition run by KIND Snacks, an official partner of the England Football Team after the renewal of the Football Association’s (FA) partnership with Mars Wrigley UK. They have ensured the players can see this message of support as they fly to Australia tomorrow “to ensure the team is fueled with motivation ahead of their first game on July 22.”

One fan’s message read “I want to wish you guys the best of luck as you embark on this fantastic adventure to Australia. You guys are a remarkable group of people”, while another said, “Keep being an inspiration for girls and women everywhere!”

The Lionesses will be setting up base camp on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, over 10,000 miles from London. Should the team make it to the final stages, they will be on the other side of the world for almost seven weeks. Never before has an England national team had to travel so far to play in a major championship with the matches kicking-off early in the morning for fans in the United Kingdom.

It will be a first tournament for Manchester City midfielder Laura Coombs but she has no doubt the team will feel the support of the fans back home. “The women’s football community make such an effort, and they’ll be watching the games even though they’re on in the morning. One hundred percent we’ll still feel really supported.”

In 2007, an age before instant social media, White remembers how the squad received messages of support in China by more unconventional means. “I actually remember in that tournament, some of the members of our backroom staff had brought a load of flags from around the country, from different County FAs, which had been signed by people within the games – fans, young girls that were starting to do sessions.”

“They took these flags out and when we got to the first hotel, one day we walked up to our rooms and they were lined up in the corridors. Obviously, it was great to see and it really gave a bit of a ‘wow’ factor for us, to feel appreciated and see some messages. Every time we moved hotel they would move with us, they packed them all away, put them all back up. I remember on our way to our first game, walking out of your room, you would just read a few of the messages and it did really light your belly with fire to want to perform.”

“We’re proud to be supporting the Lionesses this year,” said Audrey Arbeeny, the UK Marketing Director at KIND Snacks, “and absolutely thrilled to be giving the public an opportunity to share their love and support with the team.”

“From talking to the players, we know just how important the fans and their support is for fueling the Lionesses, especially now more than ever as they take off to the other side of the world. We hope that by bringing together messages of kindness and support from across the nation, we can help spur on the players as they leave for Australia, and throughout the tournament.”

The message will be on display in Thornbury Park until the Lionesses depart for the FIFA Women’s World Cup on July 5.

KIND Snacks have created a GIANT message of support for the Lionesses as they head off to Australia for the first game in the tournament. The 100m wide sign was made out of thousands of messages of support from the public, including ex-Lionesses, Rachel Yankey and Faye White.