Wales manager Rhian Wilkinson on BBC 5 Live Breakfast after her team qualified for Euro 2025, the first Welsh side to reach a major women’s football tournament

“I’d say the
most emotional part for me was watching these women celebrate with their
friends, families, with tears of joy. You know their families have seen it all,
have seen the heartbreak from these players and now get to enjoy this special
moment of having made history.”

What does it mean to her personally?

“I fell out of love a little bit with
football. It’s a hard sport, especially as a manager. It can be fickle. And
when the Welsh job came up I wanted it. I really wanted it.

“There were other
opportunities but they didn’t feel right. This one did because I knew it would
feel like coming home. A special place for me, it’s special for my mother, it’s
special for my siblings, my aunts, cousins, uncles, everybody lives here and
it’s been really heartwarming to come home and be able to support the team.

“And making history like this is the icing on
top of what has been already a really wonderful opportunity for me.”