The English are well known for their football and passionate fans. The mens team always fields a team that can seemingly compete with the best of the world despite consistently losing all the time in the Euro Championships and the World Cups, except in 1964. So with passionate fans one would assume the women's team would be one of the strongest in the world. According to Fifa World cup rankings the English squad are 10th and didn't have that great of a tournament recently that was contested by Japan and the United States with Japan winning a dramatic final. So the question is why are the English side not stronger?
The answer may be harder to find but it certainly has to do something with getting girls to play the game at an early age plus acceptance of the game on the women's side where the men's tournament is just called the World Cup and not the Men's World Cup. Even the Canadian women's squad ranks higher and the fans seem to be more passionate about their team than England where the fans are probably too absorbed by not just the main tournaments but also the English Premier league.
Currently the main teams that typically were the top ranked teams in the women's football game are Germany, Canada, United States, Sweden and Brazil. Will the English women's team ever become a big deal? It might take time but the 2011 tournament has certainly made the most noise ever and this might cause a spike in womens' teams and training camps where girls can enjoy the game, not just the boys.