Welsh football fans will be able to follow the women’s national team’s full campaign to qualify for a major international tournament on the BBC for the first time.
BBC Cymru Wales will broadcast every game of the qualifying campaign for UEFA Women’s Euro 2021 live, with home games broadcast on BBC Two Wales, as well as every home and away match live on BBC Radio Wales.
There will also be coverage online on the BBC Sport website and on BBC Cymru Fyw.
The campaign starts on 29 August with the first away game against the Faroe Islands. Led by manager Jayne Ludlow, Wales is currently enjoying its most successful period in women’s football, after narrowly missing out on a place in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
During the last 18 months the side has climbed into the top 30 of the FIFA women’s rankings for the first time in its history.
Chief Executive of the Football Association of Wales, Jonathan Ford, said:
“Following the recent successes and exploits of the national team, it’s great to see the commitment from the BBC to help grow women’s football in Wales. Broadcasting all home and away fixtures of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 qualification campaign will help raise the profile of the team and the players across the country.
“This will also allow fans to follow the whole campaign journey as Jayne and her side look to make history by qualifying for their first major tournament.”
The BBC is attracting bigger audiences than ever before for its coverage of women’s football. Its coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup reached an audience of 28.1m, and saw a peak of 11.7m tune in for the England v USA semi-final making it the most watched programme of 2019 so far.
Former Wales international Gwennan Harries, who will be part of BBC commentary team, said:
“It is a really exciting time for women’s football right now and I’m delighted to be a part of the BBC Wales team for this Euro 2021 Qualifying campaign. The squad has remained settled from the strong World Cup campaign they had last year, both on and off the pitch, and this is another step in showing the development women’s football is making in this country. I can’t wait for it all to start on August 29th!”
Wales’ first away game against the Faroe Islands on 29 August will be broadcast on BBC Radio Wales and live streamed on the BBC Sport website in English, and Cymru Fyw in Welsh.
Wales v Northern Ireland on 3 September will be broadcast live on BBC Two Wales and BBC Radio Wales, on all frequencies, and on Cymru Fyw.
