As the roar of the Lionesses’ victory at the Euros quietens to a mere purr, there can be little doubt that women’s football is entering a new era for representation on both big and small screens.

As a producer, I love both watching and making sports programmes. There is something about the drive and determination of the athletes, mixed with the undying passion of the fans, that is both wildly optimistic and tear-your-hair-out frustrating in equal parts.

I was the UK series producer for season one of Welcome to Wrexham, and have recently worked on an upcoming series about the players of one of the best clubs in the world. However I, and many of my colleagues, are often met with resistance when it comes to putting female athletes, pundits and presenters front and centre.

Though the pace of progress feels glacial for many, fans are voting with their remote controls and demanding more. To mark the announcement of a sequel to Bend It Like Beckham (2002), here’s a look at five of my favourite moments when women’s football was celebrated on screen.

1. Gregory’s Girl (1981)

This Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy came out just ten years after the reversal of the FA’s ban on women’s football in 1971.

In the film, Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair), a lanky, horny teenage boy with a mop of auburn hair, falls for Dorothy (Dee Hepburn). She’s an ambitious and attractive female football player who fights for a place on the boys’ team, battling endemic sexism and searching for an outlet for her skill and passion. Hepburn trained with Partick Thistle FC to hone her football skills for the part.

The trailer for Gregory’s Girl.

Watching the film again now, it feels uncomfortably dated at times. The women are objectified and patronised at every turn.

In the opening scene, Gregory and his hormone-driven mates spy on an undressing nurse, making lewd comments. Dorothy is condescendingly addressed as “Dear” by the coach and initially told not to bother trying out. And in a Home Economics class, one of Gregory’s friends slaps a girl on the bum, leaving a hand-print in flour.

But all this considered, seeing a girl playing football better than boys was still undoubtedly innovative at the time.

2. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

Who would have thought a comedy about a teenage Sikh girl wanting to play football in west London would win the hearts of millions of people around the world?

Director and writer Gurinder Chadha’s comedy is about Jess Bhamra’s (Parminder Nagra) desire to buck family tradition and join the Hounslow Harriers with her friend Jules (Kiera Knightley) – a team coached by a former Irish player, Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). It’s a funny and beautifully bittersweet account of the complexities of fitting into British society by first- and second-generation immigrants – particularly girls – directed with the lightest of touches.

The trailer for Bend it Like Beckham.

With a cast rounded out by Archie Panjabi, Juliet Stevenson, Shaznay Lewis and Anupam Kher – and with cameos from Gary Linker, Alan Hansen and John Barnes – the film received a raft of nominations from awards academies around the world.

Not only did the film do wonders for the careers of the lead actors, it also put British women’s football on the map. With the hilarious wedding and offside scenes (some of us use salt and pepper mills to figure out the offside rule to this day), it stands the test of time. So when, at the Euros in Basel this summer, Chadra announced that a sequel is in the works, there was great excitement.

As women’s football has come on in leaps and bounds, will Bend It Like Beckham now become Kick It Like Kelly?

3. Under Pressure: The US Women’s World Cup Team (2023)

There are myriad documentary series about men’s football – Sunderland ’Til I Die (2018), All or Nothing (2022) and Welcome to Wrexham (2022), to name just three. The absence of similar series for women’s football is, frankly, an inexcusable failure of television commissioning. Women, it seems, must make do with a limited series, at best.

The trailer for Under Pressure: The US Women’s World Cup Team.

Bucking the trend, this four-part series Under Pressure goes behind the scenes with the US team as they aim for the “three-peat” in 2023 – their third World Cup victory. It’s an aim they fail to reach, as they don’t even make the quarter-final. With high production values and great access to the players and coaching team, the series offers a rare glimpse of life as a female professional football player. More like this please.

4. Forever (2023)

This Swedish gem is one of the best teen football films currently on streaming. Filmed in the town of Uddevalla, the story focuses on Mila (Flutra Cela), a hopeful young player who comes from a working-class, single-parent immigrant family, and her middle-class friend Kia (Judith Sigfridsson), whose life is just that bit easier.

They play in a small-town football team and long to escape to Stockholm and professional success. When their new coach Lollo (Agnes Lindström Bolmgren) ups the ante and trains them hard to make it to the Gothia tournament, they begin to drift apart.

The trailer for Forever.

This realistic and sometimes gritty portrayal of female adolescence and friendship – complicated by class, boys, periods and growing up – is played by professional footballers Cela and Sigfridsson. Though the script is baggy in places – there are too many football montages, and it could do with a 15-minute trim – the lack of gloss and Hollywood-ification is very welcome.

5. It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football (2024)

The 2023 Women’s World Cup was historic in many ways. Despite being hosted all the way across the world in Australia and New Zealand, there were almost 2 million fans in attendance. There was Ireland’s Katie McCabe’s phenomenal goal (scored directly from a corner kick), the mighty USA being knocked out early, and an electric Spain versus England final. The Lionesses were never able to come back after Olga Carmona’s goal in the 29th minute, and La Roja deserved the trophy after a brilliant tournament.

It was a win all-round for women’s football. And that should have been that.

However, the ugly turn of events in the awards line-up, with former coach Luis Rubiales grabbing and kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent, exposed to the world behaviour that many of Spain’s women players had been complaining about for years.

In this documentary, the players bravely discuss the issues that led up to that moment, and the ultimately positive effect it had on Spanish women’s football.

The trailer for It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football.

While female representation on screen has come a fair distance since the FA ban on women’s football in the UK (1921-1971) was overturned, there is still a long way to go to reach parity with their male counterparts.

Football is the most popular sport in the world with over 3.5 billion fans, and its market value is predicted to grow steadily over the next five years. Women are clearly playing an increasing role in that growth, so there can no more excuses. Game on!

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Sara Gibbings is affiliated with industry organisations- PACT (as a producer I am a member), BAFTA (voting member), WFTV (member), RTS (member).