The Football Association will be working with partners such as the North West Development Agency, Sport England North West and the Government Office for the North West to ensure that Euro 2005 will have an impact far beyond the fortnight that the Championship will be firmly in the sporting spotlight

Speaking at the launch of what will be the biggest women’s sporting event ever held in the UK, National Coach Hope Powell said: "Euro 2005 gives us the opportunity to showcase women’s football, to drive participation and put the sport on the map."

Revealing the initiatives leading up to and focused around the Championship, the FA’s Head of Football Development Kelly Simmons said: "Some of the best players in the world will be on show at Euro 2005, but we want to make sure that the event is not just about 15 days of fabulous football.

"Over the last three years football has become the biggest female participation sport in the country, we now have 7,000 girls and women’s teams and two million players - and Euro 2005 gives us a unique opportunity to build on that tremendous progress.

"We aim to capitalise on the interest around the tournament by involving schools and organisations such as the girl guides and youth associations, in the North West especially but in every other part of the country as well.

"FA packs aimed at raising awareness of the tournament and the opportunities for girls to play football will be sent to 18,000 primary schools across the country, and the packs will also be available on TheFA.com for secondary schools.

"We’ll be asking schools to develop a range of opportunities for youngsters, boys as well as girls, and we also have a big link-up programme between schools and women’s football clubs to help girls become part of local clubs.

"When it comes to the tournament itself we have a range of activities lined up for the opening day, when England kick off the event with the first match at the City of Manchester Stadium.

"We want to get as many youngsters there as we can to give the Championship a great send-off, but also to get young girls involved in the sport on a continuing basis – this is the biggest ever opportunity for women’s football in this country."

Tournament Director Andrew Halstead, who headed up the event’s launch, said: "Euro 2005 will be England’s showpiece for the advancement of women’s sport and we are looking forward to working with our partners in the North West to leave a lasting legacy for women’s football in the region."