New Championship records were set at the Women’s Euro 2005, staged in the north west of England, for attendances and television viewing figures as the 15-day tournament captured the public’s imagination.

“The tournament has been fantastic,” said Barwick. “It’s introduced a lot of people to women’s football and the crowds have been terrific, particularly for the England games. The sheer numbers have made the crowds part of the theatre of the game.

“Having a tournament in our own backyard was an opportunity to maximise the level of awareness of the women’s game and I think the players have done that and so have my colleagues in The FA, who worked very hard on the tournament. It’s been a fantastic opportunity for women's football that hasn’t been missed.

“As well as great crowds the TV viewing figures have been excellent. There were 3.6 million people watching (on BBC2) the back end of the England-Sweden game, that’s a 20% share of people watching television at a quarter to eight on a Saturday evening and that’s serious business.

“Now we’ve got to find a way, hopefully with our broadcast colleagues, of keeping the momentum going and the best thing to do is to get the game to as many people as possible. But in any way we can help women's football develop, we will.”

Barwick was in the Ewood Park crowd as Germany won their fourth successive European title, beating Norway 3-1 in the final, but while admiring the Germans he was also excited at the future prospects of a young England team that were eliminated at the group stage but endeared themselves to the nation with some exhilarating performances.

“England did really well in their three matches,” he said. “Tournament football is tough and I think they’ve learned some lessons from that. They’re a young side so we’re hopeful of them, and I think the Women’s Euro 2005 has been a really valuable experience for them.

“We gave them the opportunity to prepare for the tournament properly and that’s exactly what they did. We now have an England team with some outstanding players and in which people are starting to know some of the names - and we now have to try and build on that.”