We must avoid England’s Lionesses’ Euros win becoming another London 2012, why Southgate will find Qatar tough and Boehly may still go after Ronaldo

In his seventh exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, reflects on England’s Lionesses’ historic Euros win on Sunday, discusses the men’s upcoming World Cup campaign, and assesses Cristiano Ronaldo’s uncertain Manchester United future.

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England Women’s Euros win and Chloe Kelly’s seminal moment…

There is only one place to start – well done the Lionesses!

What an excellent evening of sport Sunday gave us. England have finally won a major international trophy and it is all thanks to Sarina Wiegman’s female Lions.

Chloe Kelly’s extra-time winner and her iconic celebration, which saw her swing her jersey above her head, will undoubtedly become a seminal moment.

The atmosphere inside Wembley was fantastic. There weren’t many drunken fans falling all over one another, which was great too, but while everyone is saying ‘this is superb, this is the future’, one does fear that last weekend could just be another London 2012 moment.

British long jumper Greg Rutherford was also hailed a hero 10 years ago but it didn’t take long for his Olympic gold medal to become ‘just another moment in time’, and something that quickly disappeared into the sporting archives. I hope the same thing does not happen to our women’s international football team.

One real big positive to come out of the Lionesses’ Euros win will be the commercial support the likes of Beth Mead and captain Leah Williamson will receive.

I really do hope that if they start dishing out accolades, such as OBEs, they give them to the entire team and don’t single out individuals because this campaign was a real big team effort.

All fans can be influenced by Sunday’s atmosphere…

When I was growing up and standing on the terraces, we expressed raw emotion, but it was contained within a healthy framework. We have since pushed the barriers so far in the opposite direction, that we now have sections of fans going as far as to boo their own national anthem.

I think the best thing Sunday’s historic win could do is prompt fans to wake up today and say to themselves ‘that was really good and maybe I should be influenced by the occasion’s feel-good vibe’.

It may not have that effect and…