Is it really only 16 years ago that a woman commentating on Match of the Day was such a big deal that it dominated both front and back pages of the tabloid newspapers for a week?
When the biggest Women’s World Cup in history kicks off in front of a global audience in Auckland on Thursday, it would be tempting to forget just how far the game has come in such a relatively short space of time.
But for those who found themselves unwittingly on the frontline of football’s culture wars like Jacqui Oatley, this progress didn’t come about by accident.
When Oatley was announced as the first woman behind the mic in the history of football’s flagship highlights programme, the scrutiny was intense, and not all of the attention was pleasant. Dave Bassett, representing the last roar of football’s dinosaurs, was dredged out of retirement to say he’d turn over the channel when she came on.
An example that seems remarkable now: when the game kicked off, a bank of press photographers turned away from the action to the commentary box to take her picture.
To those who’d known and respected her for years and mixed in the same press boxes, the furore was clearly absurd. She was more than qualified and experienced to do it but that’s how the game was, even until fairly recently. Modest though she is, Oatley’s resilience in breaking that glass ceiling allowed others to pass through it.
“It just feels like so long ago now,” she says, reflecting on the absurdity of it.
“The way to sum it up is to say it was deeply stressful, unpleasant, crazy and wild at the time and something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but at the same time I’m very much an optimist and positive person and I’m just glad to have got through that personal challenge.
“It would have been so much easier to run away from the mic and do something else. But I’m proud I kept doing what I love. I’m just so pleased it is less of an issue in the game now and we can just crack on.”
And crack on is exactly what has happened for the sport. This World Cup cycle has seen the game transformed, professionalism embraced, investment flowing and audiences increasing.
Crucially, coverage has been transformed too, with major TV deals for the WSL and England regularly selling out Wembley. Oatley has been at every major tournament since the 2005 Euros and has seen the press pack following England grow from a few reporters to what it is now.
“It always seemed really obvious to me that this would happen if investment was made, resources were put into allowing female players to be the best athletes they could be,” Oatley says.
“It just seemed like an absolute no-brainer to me, I don’t know why people have been so sluggish in getting their heads around what an incredible sport it is.”
To a new generation, that may not be such an oddity but Oatley remembers being called a tomboy for playing and watching football when she was younger. Ingrained attitudes may, however, be shifting.
“We’ve been so brainwashed in this country that it’s a man’s sport and it’s a male landscape because that’s how it’s always been and dads and grandads have grown up giving footballs to their boys and dolls to their girls with the mindset that is what you do because that’s the way it has always been,” she says.
“I know some people don’t like us talking about the 50-year ban but that is the reason why it’s happening now rather than 50 years ago. It’s the simple explanation for it – the ban and attitudes in a lot of Europe to women’s football, although not including Scandinavia, which has been ahead of us.
“It has been about trying to get people to listen, producers to include a line of coverage on women’s football. Give these players the opportunity to be the best they can be and just watch what happens.”
Last week she hosted the European Club Association’s first women’s football conference and feels the game is primed to grow “exponentially”.
“Brands and sponsors need to get on board now before it gets even bigger,” she says. There is, of course, work to do.
Oatley wants to see the talent among young female sportswriters reflected in press rooms. She also acknowledges some of the countries competing in Australia and New Zealand still face significant funding and safeguarding issues.
“The bonus about coverage expanding is we can get a microphone to some of those players to speak about those things,” she says.
Just as she was in Qatar in November, Oatley is in Sydney commentating for US broadcasting behemoth Fox Sports. She is optimistic about the Lionesses and their capacity to absorb the loss of key trio Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead and add a world title to their Euros triumph.
“People have talked a lot about injuries but I don’t think there’s ever an ideal time for a team. Whenever you talk about a golden generation, it doesn’t always work like that,” she says. “England are missing players but in a lot of positions they’re better off than they were going into the Euros.”
She cites the transformation of Rachel Daly from left-back to prolific WSL striker, the overseas success of Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh, and the emergence of Lauren James as one of the world’s best, as positives that shouldn’t be overlooked.
“There’s a lot to be positive about,” she says. It is a sentiment that covers so much about what will happen over the next month.
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