On Sunday evening, over 12.2 million people tuned in to watch England's historic, back-to-back Women's Euros final, making it the most watched television moment of 2025 across all TV broadcasters.

For fans of the Lionesses, the game followed a familiar script:

An early goal conceded against the run of play. Heroic defending from the opposition to deny an equaliser. Then that unmistakable wave from Sarina Wiegman as she summoned her super-subs.

And once again, it was Chloe Kelly - the hero of the tournament - who made the difference. A perfectly delivered cross for the equaliser, and then that thunderous 110 km/h winning penalty to seal England's second consecutive Euros trophy.

Yet, amid the jubilant celebrations and universal sigh of relief across the nation as England won a penalty shootout (men's team take notes), a wider problem persists.

UEFA confirmed a record prize pot of £34m for this year's Women's Euros - a 156 per cent increase from 2022. Progress? Sure.

But still a world away from the £289m offered at the Men's Euros 2024, where the winners walked away with up to £24.67m.

The England men's team, which made the final (and lost) last summer, would have shared a bonus pot of £14m had they won; this year, our winning ladies are set to share a collective bonus of… drum roll... £1.75m.

Let's be clear - it's a lot of money, perhaps more than most people will earn in their lifetime, yet it's not even 15 per cent of the men's prize, despite delivering something the men didn't: a trophy.

How can the men collectively be worth more than £200m more than the women?

The most common justification for unequal pay in football is that the men's game draws more spectators and is, therefore, more lucrative for sponsors, advertisements, and TV companies.

But that argument is looking shakier by the match.

A peak audience of 16.2 million watched the final, smashing records. The game drew 4.2 million streams via BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app. This beat the previous record set by the 2023 Women's World Cup final.

Anyway, sport isn’t just about money - it’s also about representation, inspiration, and national pride.

The Lionesses’ Euros victory will, once again, spark a surge in girls’ participation in football and, once again, deliver a cultural moment that transcends the sport entirely.

And yet this success has come against all the odds.

While the men's game has enjoyed decades of investment, infrastructure, and exposure, women's football was banned by the FA for 50 years - from 1921 to 1971.

Their attempts to simply play the game have historically been the subject of ridicule, scrutiny or ignorance.

How can anyone expect equal financial outcomes when the starting lines were so far apart?

Even today, the domestic pay gap is vast.

In the Premier League, male players typically earn over £3 million per year.

In the Women's Super League, the average salary is just £47,000 - and some players earn as little as £20,000.

It's one of the most visible examples of gender pay inequality in the UK, but sadly not an isolated one.

These figures reflect a broader issue found throughout the UK workforce: unequal earnings and resulting unequal pensions.

Indeed, the latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reveal that the gender pension gap has risen to 48 per cent,

The data estimated that the median uncrystallised wealth of those aged 55 to 59 in 2020 to 2022 was £81,000 for women and £156,000 for men.

The gender pension gap varied by age, as the DWP found that it was smallest for those aged 25 to 29 (22 per cent) before increasing to 52 per cent for those aged 45 to 49.

This pattern is similar to the trajectory of the gender pay gap, which shows a relatively small gap until the age of 40, when it gets larger due to different labour market trajectories of men and women.

This means many women, even those working full-time across their careers, face a far less secure financial future in retirement.

Indeed, lower average pay, shorter or disrupted careers due to caring responsibilities, and limited support at key life stages all contribute to women retiring with significantly less in their pension pots than men.

Alarmingly, research suggests that the gender pensions gap will take at least 20 years to close unless "decisive" action is taken, while another study has claimed equal pensions are over 90 years away at the current rate of progress.

So, as thousands of men and women pile onto the streets of London today in celebration of the Lionesses' victory, surely it is time to take some serious steps towards rewarding women off the pitch, both in their pay slips and their pension pots?

After all, they've won more penalty shootouts this tournament than the men have in a very long time.

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