UEFA Women's EURO 2005 (champions - Germany)
Germany beat Norway 3-1 at Ewood Park for a fourth successive title, then a record. The edition's defining number is not the final's crowd of just over 21,100 but the 29,092 who watched England play Finland in the opening match - at the time a record for a women's match anywhere in Europe.
Why this wins its question: Every summary of 2005 records Germany's fourth in a row. UEFA's own review makes a different point stick: the largest crowd of the tournament watched a group game, not the final - 29,092 for England against Finland, a European record for a women's match at the time, against just over 21,100 at Ewood Park. It also carries what a scoreline cannot, that Finland reached the semi-finals from a base of 19,000 registered players, the smallest in the field.
Claims
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Germany beat Norway 3-1 in the Women's EURO 2005 final at Ewood Park in Blackburn, in front of more than 21,100 spectators, for a fourth successive European title - at the time a record for the competition. Inka Grings scored on 21, Renate Lingor on 24 and Birgit Prinz on 63, with Dagny Mellgren replying on 41.
The tournament's biggest crowd was not the final. England's 3-2 win over Finland in the opening match at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday 5 June drew 29,092, which UEFA recorded at the time as a record for a women's match in Europe. In all, 117,384 spectators attended the 15 matches, played in Manchester, Blackpool, Warrington, Preston and Blackburn.
Finland reached the semi-finals with 19,000 registered players, the smallest playing base at the tournament alongside Italy. They qualified by beating Denmark 2-1 in Blackpool on the final matchday, while Sweden's 1-0 win over the hosts eliminated England, both of whom had needed only a draw.
The all-Scandinavian semi-final was the match of the tournament: Norway beat Sweden 3-2 after extra time, Hanna Ljungberg scoring two equalisers before Solveig Gulbrandsen's 109th-minute winner, which ended Marika Domanski-Lyfors's nine-year spell as Sweden coach. Germany reached the final by beating Finland 4-1.
Isabell Herlovsen, then 16, made her international mark at this tournament, scoring in the semi-final win over Sweden and coming on in the final. Grings finished as leading scorer with four goals, and the title was the last act of Tina Theune-Meyer's time as Germany coach.
Eurosport screened every fixture live and the BBC showed England's three group games and the final; more than three and a half million viewers watched the hosts lose to Sweden on 11 June, a 20 per cent share of the English audience on a Saturday evening. The English FA was received at the House of Commons in recognition of the tournament's organisation.