SAINTS boss Marieanne Spacey-Cale believes it is an exciting time for women’s football in Southampton, with the EUROs in town for the next two weeks.

Former England star Spacey-Cale led Saints to a league and cup double last term, achieving promotion to the second tier for the first time in Saints’ history.

England’s final group stage game against Northern Ireland will be hosted at St Mary’s, whilst Saints’ very own Laura Rafferty has the opportunity to feature three times at the ground, with all of Northern Ireland’s games taking place at the home of Saints starting tomorrow evening.

However, whilst Spacey-Cale was obviously delighted to see the Lionesses in action at St Mary’s, she stressed that Saints’ impressive performances last season was cause for celebration itself, and that the tournament – labelled the biggest in women’s football history – could serve as a platform to highlight the success of her side.

Speaking about the buzz and atmosphere surrounding the city ahead of the competition, Spacey-Cale told the Daily Echo: “We win the promotion and then you’ve got England coming here, Northern Ireland coming here, some great nations coming here so it just keeps it bubbling nicely.

“What we want to do is, not jump on the back of it because we’re successful in our own right, but the opportunity to showcase what we’ve done and be able to reach an audience we might not have been able to reach before.

“So it’s an exciting time, the Euros in England, even more exciting that the community here will get to see some world-class football.”