FAYE White will be bursting with pride when she leads England out for the start of the European Championships on Sunday.

From the humble beginnings of attending a soccer school in Crawley and playing women's football for the likes of Three Bridges, White becomes only the third English footballer to skipper her country in a major tournament on home soil.

She follows in the footsteps of Bobby Moore in the 1966 World Cup and Tony Adams at Euro 96.

While winning is important to White and her team-mates, bridging the gap between the men's and women's games is what this tournament is all about.

When Moore lifted the game's biggest prize in 1966, the idea of women playing football would have been laughed at by most people.

When Adams skippered Terry Venables' side to the chorus of Football's Coming Home' 30 years later, the women's game was in many respects still in its infancy.

Nine years on, with professional players and teams linked ever more closely with the men's side of clubs such as Chelsea and Arsenal, and to a slightly lower level with Albion, the game has taken huge strides.

The 2005 European Championships is a great opportunity to change perceptions of people who still see women's football as little more than girls having a bit of fun. Bless them!

Not sure about it? Then take a look for yourself as the BBC are screening each of England's group games and you might be surprised.

That is the message White wants to get across when she emerges from the tunnel at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday for England's opener against Finland.

Of course, she is proud but is aware of her responsibilities as well.

White, 27, who lives in Horsham, said: "It is a huge honour just to be involved in a major tournament but to captain your country in England will be so special.

"The fact that it can make such a huge impact on people's perceptions of the sports just adds to it all.

"The games are being shown live on television and it is a chance to show the women's game is improving all the time.

"There are so many people who have not had access to it before and hopefully some people will change their opinions once they have watched it."

England are going into the tournament in the best possible shape. Realistically, look no further than Germany or Sweden for the winners but White believes the host nation can make an impact.

She said: "In ten games since the turn of the year we have won nine of them and we only lost to China on penalties in the Algarve Cup. That is a new record for us in the women's game.

"We have played some strong opponents. We have put in good performances and got good results. That gives us a lot of confidence.

"Four years ago the squad picked itself. Now the manager, Hope Powell, has a lot of young players she has been able to feed through and we have competition for places and strength in depth.

"Over the last two years we haven't been playing competitive games (as hosts) which has helped. We have been able to try things, different formations."

With 43 caps and having played in the last European Championships in 2001, the Arsenal defender is one of England's more experienced players and she knows a balance must be drawn between expectations and realistic achievements.

She said: "We knew we could always compete on a technical level but we are now a lot fitter and stronger.

"In world rankings, Germany have won this tournament three times and Sweden got to the World Cup final in 2003. They will be favourites to win the groups.

"We have to aim to qualify from our group for the semi-finals. We feel the gap is closing between us and the best teams and we need to show that."