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FROM THE PITCH TO THE COMMENTARY BOX, RACHEL BROWN-FINNIS SPEAKS TO HER GAME TOO
- Her Game Too
- Dec 18, 2025
- 5 min read
“The public's perception of what women's football stands for and the product that's on the pitch has changed, and that feeds down to young girls who want to be like Chloe Kelly, Hannah Hampton and Lucy Bronze.”
Former Lioness Rachel Brown-Finnis has been speaking to Her Game Too about how women’s football has evolved since her playing days, her experienced as one of the first female pundits on television and her role as a panel member predicting football results for The Pools.
The former Liverpool and Everton goalkeeper chatted to Her Game Too at the presentation of a £100,000 donation from The Pools’ newly-launched charitable arm, The Pools Foundation, to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Having co-commentated on England winning their second consecutive Women’s EURO final to more than 12 million people on the BBC five months ago, Rachel – herself a Women’s EURO finalist in 2009 - reflects on how far the female game has come since her early days as a player.
“When I first started playing football at eight years old, it was just boys; there wasn’t a single girl in my primary school who played football, and it was the same in my secondary school," the 45-year-old said.
“I didn't really even notice it until I couldn't play mixed football at secondary school, and then I had to find a girls’ team and, at that time, there weren't any in my local area, so I joined a women's team when I was 12.”
Rachel joined Her Game Too partner club Accrington Stanley before moving to Liverpool and making her Reds debut in goal aged 15.
“It was unrecognisable from the academies that we have now, with the number of young girls now playing football at grassroots level in teams, the Wildcats programmes just for fun and the quality of access to girls’ football in primary schools.
“These are all absolutely seismic changes that have happened in girls’ football at grassroots level.”
Rachel sees the changes first-hand when watching her ten-year-old daughter play every weekend.
“On the sidelines looking around, there are girls’ teams playing football as far as I can see - young girls enjoying the sport and having the support of their parents.
“The perception of girls’ football and women's football has been the biggest change, certainly over these last few years since the Lionesses won Women’s EURO 2022 and then solidified that by winning it again this year.
“The public's perception of what women's football stands for and the product that's on the pitch, the quality that's on the pitch, has changed, and that feeds down to young girls who want to be like Chloe Kelly, Hannah Hampton and Lucy Bronze.
“I think it's absolutely wonderful where women's football is now because young girls have got role models to look up to, they can regularly watch women’s football and if there's a Lionesses game, it's going to be on television.
“That just wasn't the case previously, and it’s the same with the Women's Super League; having access to be able to watch that every single weekend that it's on normalises what people expect to switch on and find on their tellies.
“And with that, for people who maybe hadn't watched it before, it's not a novelty anymore - it's a mainstay and it’s there for people to consume as they would do men's football.
“We're having success at international level, more girls are playing than ever and it just fills me with a huge amount of pride to have been a Lioness and been part of that journey as have thousands of other women in this country.”
Rachel gained 82 England caps during an international career that took her to World Cups, Women’s EUROs – including the 2009 final loss to Germany - and the 2012 Olympic Games to represent Team GB, while she also won the FA Cup with Everton.
After retiring in 2015, she moved into football media as a television and radio pundit and co-commentator.
“When I finished playing football, 11 years ago now, I was one of the very first female faces on TV talking about football; there simply weren't any former female players doing it, and women’s football wasn't on telly very much.
“When I finished playing, Jacqui Oatley was commentating on Match of the Day but she was literally the only one, so for me to get to a position where I've been a regular pundit and co-commentator on men’s football and women's football and been to all the tournaments – it’s great to see a more diverse panel of experts giving their opinions on the game.
“I’m really proud to have been one of the fledgling ones who maybe took the flack, because we were a different type of voice being heard on people's TVs when viewers were used to only men giving their opinions and expertise on football for their whole lives.
“I can imagine the brain was hearing one thing but wasn't used to it, so I do understand that, for some people, it's taken a little bit of time to get used to this new demographic of experts on their TVs.
“But we are firmly established now and we're not going anywhere.”
Earlier this year, Rachel played a key role in the BBC’s coverage of England winning Women’s EURO 2025, with Lionesses goalkeeper Hannah Hampton winning the Player of the Match award on two occasions for her heroics in penalty shootouts.
The goalkeeping exploits of Hampton and Ann-Katrin Berger, who made a spectacular diving save to claw the ball off the line in extra time of Germany’s quarter-final victory over France, were among the tournament’s prominent storylines.
Rachel says the coaching goalkeepers now receive has evolved significantly since her playing days, when players were training alongside studying and working, which has elevated the standard.
“I'm delighted that we're seeing now, instead of the focus at tournaments being on errors made by goalkeepers, they are being lauded for their absolute excellence and brilliance.
“This EURO, more than ever before, goalkeepers were the heroes - for me, they were the standout players in the whole tournament because it was edge-of-your-seat stuff on so many occasions, no more so than for Hannah Hampton.
“Goalkeeping standards have improved massively and that’s down to the access to training and the bigger pool of goalkeepers and footballers to choose from, so it's wonderful to be able to dissect the brilliant saves that goalkeepers as a pundit rather than dissect why a mistake was made.”
When she is not on television or the radio talking about football, Rachel is busy as a panel member for The Pools and she joined fellow former England footballer Ian Callaghan for a landmark charity presentation in Liverpool.
“To celebrate 100 years of the Pools being in existence, the Pools Foundation has been set up and has made its first donation to the Teenage Cancer Trust of £100,000, and that will be an annual donation to a charity of the Pools Foundation's choice.
“We are celebrating this landmark occasion where the Pools, who have always given back to the community, are putting their marker in the ground by making this sizable charitable donation.”
