Soccer-England must not repeat 2012 mistakes, says BBC's Oatley

By Mike Collett LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - The English FA and everyone involved in women's football must not repeat the mistakes they made after the success of the 2012 London Olympics if the women's game is to grow in the country, BBC presenter Jacqui Oatley told Reuters on Thursday. Oatley, the anchor of the BBC's multi-platform coverage of the women's World Cup finals in Canada, was speaking after England's heart-breaking last-minute 2-1 semi-final defeat by world champions Japan in Edmonton. Hoping to reach the final for the first time and with extra-time just seconds away, England lost after Laura Bassett scored an own goal. With the BBC's viewing figures booming and the women's game capturing the public's imagination in a way unprecedented since the Olympics three years ago, Oatley says lessons must be learned so it does not stagnate as it did then. "The important thing now is that the marketeers, the commercial people, work closely with the clubs, and really take advantage of what has happened over the last few weeks," she said. "The FA have made great strides in the women's game but now the clubs, their commercial partners, everyone, must build on this success. They missed an opportunity in 2012, and that cannot be allowed to happen again." Then, a British team, comprised mainly English players, reached the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament and attracted a record crowd for a women's match in Britain of 70,584 for a group game against Brazil at Wembley. FALSE DAWN Britain lost in the quarter-finals to Canada and the success proved to be something of a false dawn. "Despite the Olympic success, crowds at club matches since then have been low," Oatley said. "The momentum was lost. The women's fixtures are haphazard, sometimes people do not know where the matches are taking place. That needs to be improved. "But where else in England can a family of four go and see first-class sport for 10 pounds ($15.58)? The fans for women's football are different from the men's game and the game must be marketed properly now," Oatley said. "The viewing figures prove there is an audience there, ready to watch the game, the people are out there." According to the BBC, almost 11 million people in Britain had watched a minimum of 15 minutes of the tournament before Wednesday's semi-final. Although the match against Japan did not finish until 2 o'clock in the morning, 2.4 million people stayed up and got up bleary-eyed for work on Thursday. There have also been 8.9 million unique British browsers to the Women's Football website, so although England lost the future at least looks bright. "What this team have done for the women's game back home, I know will have a lasting legacy, because the way this team has gone out, as hard as it is, will make them even bigger heroes," said Mark Sampson, the Welsh manager of the England women's team. The English FA said on Thursday it had no plans to bid to host the tournament in the foreseeable future as the next available European slot to stage it probably will not come around until 2031 at the earliest. Of more immediate concern is England's third-place playoff with Germany at Edmonton on Saturday night when Oatley will be back in the BBC hotseat. "It was heart-breaking the way England lost," she said. "But in the end the negatives of that defeat will be forgotten because so many positives have come out of the tournament. I just hope we can build on them." ($1 = 0.6419 pounds) (Editing by Ed Osmond)