Last week, the third and final Sport Industry Dining event of the year took place at M Victoria Street in Central London.
Sport Industry Dining is a series of exclusive dinners for Sport Industry Members, meeting three times a year at some of London’s most exclusive venues.
The prestigious series provides representatives from leading brands, rights holders and agencies across the sport industry with the opportunity to network, socialise and hear from some of the most inspiring names in sport.
BT Sport’s Becky Ives took care of hosting duties, and was joined by Euro-winning Lioness Alessia Russo to discuss her roaring success over the summer to a group of senior industry figures from the likes of Liverpool FC, adidas, Spotify, Unilever, TikTok, IMG, SailGP and Sky Sports.
Russo, who joined the Sport Industry Members and Partners shortly after a round of international matches with England, was predictably quizzed on the side’s relentless run of results. The most recent games, a win over Japan and draw against Norway, marked 26 games and a whole year unbeaten for the Lionesses, which includes their iconic summer.
“It was my first tournament, and I am still one of the young players in the squad. I was going into it just thinking ‘enjoy it, relax, have fun, soak it in,’” Russo said when reminiscing over the early days of the tournament.
“Then, in the blink of an eye, we are in the final in front of 90,000 people. It was great. For women’s football generally, we didn’t realise how much of an impact it had until we came out.”
Throughout the evening, Russo emphasised how sheltered she felt within the England camp, something which helped her and the team to ignore the country’s growing enthusiasm and focus on the job at hand.
“It honestly felt like we were in the Big Brother house, we came out and were like different people” she said, adding, “the pressure was from the outside, not from us.”
One topic of conversation that couldn’t be ignored, however, was Russo’s iconic back-heel goal in the semi-final against Sweden. A humble Russo claimed that she “should have scored the first one to make my life a lot easier,” and added that if she hadn’t pulled off the emphatic finish, she’d have received some “foul looks from my teammates!”
“It just fell nicely I don’t really know what I was thinking. People started to think I was a free-styler when I came out the Euros and I’m definitely not! I’m probably the least skillful player in the team!”
Post-Euros, questions were raised over whether the national team’s success could translate to the domestic game but Russo saw room for optimism. “Things that we didn’t expect would come, have arrived. People are giving women’s football a bit of respect,” she said.
Speaking specifically on the Women’s Super League (WSL), she confirmed the positive impact of the Euros, noting “growing attendances” and playing matches at the likes of the Emirates and Old Trafford.
After the Q&A with Becky, questions were opened to floor and Russo spoke further on the psychology of sport, women’s roles in the men’s game, and the new commercial opportunities for her sport.
Alessia Russo joins the likes of Molly Thompson-Smith, Ugo Monye, Hannah Cockcroft, Ellie Simmonds, Jermaine Jenas, Will Buxton, Alex Scott and Aimee Fuller on the list of Sport Industry Dining speakers, with more high-profile sportspeople lined for next year’s Dining events.
Access to Sport Industry Dining can be gained by purchasing a Sport Industry Membership. In addition, the package offers tickets to Sport Industry Socials, tickets and entries to the Sport Industry Awards, and a number of other generous discounts and benefits.
Find out more here.
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