Free Lionesses At The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019

For twenty years the Football Supporters’ Federation had run fans’ embassies at men’s tournaments; in 2019, after what She Kicks describes as a year or two of pestering by its own editor and following the merger that created the Football Supporters Association, the same service ran at a women’s World Cup for the first time. The Free Lionesses crew was one staff member and three volunteers. They tell the magazine that around 1,200 supporters checked in across France, that the embassies exist for stolen passports and lost phones as much as for company, and that they handed out a great many lollies and high fives. Their highlight was Lyon, giving out goody bags and watching England supporters sing together.