Back in 2015, BBC World Service launched the first BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year award, to raise the profile of the women’s game but also highlight key issues within the sport. Ten years ago, the current Champions League winners Barcelona and the Women’s Super League in England still weren’t professional, the Women’s World Cup was about to kick off in Canada using artificial pitches, much to the dismay of players and coaches – something which has never been repeated! To mark an historic 10th year of the award, past winners including Norway’s Ada Hegerberg, Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala and England’s Lucy Bronze reflect on winning the trophy. Along with previous nominees, they discuss key moments in the last decade and the challenges still ahead for the women’s game.
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2015 just catapulted our team and myself on the world stage.
Doing it at Wembley, Germany, Wembley final, like it was everything it needed to be to push the game on.
Please welcome to the stage your victorious England lionesses, everyone.
You dream of it, but when it actually happens, I don't think there's a guidebook to tell you how to react or how to be.
So I think for us, we would have started soak in as much of it as we could.
10 years of change and what incredible change from 2015.
The popularity of women's football has been transformed across the globe.
I stood up and started shouting like, go Philippines.
When the referee whistle and I say, we did it.
I can't believe it.
Not only did you win the Champions League, but we were able to do it in front of our own fans.
50,000 there feels like over 100.
I can't describe it, really.
It was just too good to be true.
From the USA dominating world cups to world record attendances and sponsorship deals, to the fight for equal pay, it's like.
I got the question from a journalist, like, do you consider yourself a footballer or someone who fights for equality?