A huge crowd was expected as ticket distribution topped the 20,000 mark late last week, but even more supporters turned out to cheer on Hope Powell's side. They became part of the biggest attendance ever for a Women's European Championship match and smashed the previous record for an England game.

Current World and European Champions Germany played a part in both of those fixtures. Their visit to Selhurst Park in 2002 was played in front on over 14,000 fans, while the 2001 European final against Sweden had a gate of over 18,000.

But at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday an official figure of 29,092 saw an epic, five-goal thriller in which England came out on top in an exciting climax.

The FA's Chief Executive Brian Barwick was amongst those watching: "I was delighted to be at the City of Manchester Stadium to see what was a great advert for women's football," he told TheFA.com.

"The record crowd just underlined the strides that have been made in the women's game. Both teams showed terrific skill and commitment and produced five goals to savour.

"From our point of view it was great to get the tournament off to a winning start, and to do it in that fashion made for a very dramatic ending," he added.

"Scoring a last-minute winner not only capped an exciting game, but it will also give Hope's team a lot of confidence ahead of the next game on Wednesday night."

It wasn't just the crowd inside the stadium who were given a treat of entertaining, attacking football. The game was screened live on BBC2 and enjoyed a peak TV audience of 2.9m with an average of 2.5m - a BBC record for a live broadcast of women's football, which was pleasing for Lance Hardy, BBC Editor - Women's Euro 2005.

"We are delighted with England's performance in a terrifically exciting game and equally pleased with viewing figures of nearly 3million," commented Hardy.

With this many people tuning in it's sure to boost the national appeal for what is already the fastest growing female participation sport in the UK.

"The fans created a great atmosphere and it was terrific to see so many people inside the ground giving England their support," said Sir Trevor Brooking, The FA's Director of Football Development, who was also there to enjoy the drama of the opening match of the Championship.

"Hopefully, with so many people watching both at home and in Manchester, it will surprise a few people. Sometimes people think that there's a big difference with the men's game but the excitement and drama of any football match was epitomised in those last five minutes," he said.

"For Women's football this has given us a platform to put things in place long-term. With nearly 30,000 fans there, a lot of girls were in the crowd and were hopefully encouraged by what they saw, perhaps thinking 'that could be me'."

He added: "There is the opportunity now for girls to come through the system like they can in the men's game.

"We want the profile of this tournament, and the quality and excitement that it will generate, to become a great legacy to build the future of the women's game on."

Football fever seems to have taken hold in the North West. England's next game, against Denmark on Wednesday, has already sold 10,000 while 14,000 have gone for their final group game against Sweden on Saturday.

The Final on 19 June has also attracted huge interest with 12,000 tickets snapped up so far.

All of those matches are at Blackburn Rover's Ewood Park and if you want to get hold of tickets and play your own part in Women's Euro 2005, call the ticket office on 08701 123 456

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