The Homecoming

The Homecoming is Jane Purdon's passionate, heartfelt account of the summer of 2022, when the Lionesses dazzled the nation and brought football home. It's also Jane's personal story. Since falling in love with football aged seven, Jane has been an activist, administrator and leader in the beautiful game, most recently as CEO of Women in Football. Her journey takes in her early days as a Sunderland fan, her first kicks of the ball in her late teens, her pioneering work in the early 1990s to promote women's involvement in football, and her subsequent career at the heart of the football establishment. In 1992, Jane wrote, 'The England women's team winning the European Championship - now that is not a fairytale, it could just happen.' Thirty years later that fairytale came true. Jane reflects on what's happened to women's football in the aftermath of the Lionesses' historic victory and what needs to happen next.