The open letter to the two Tory leadership candidates has been signed by the team that claimed historic victory at Women’s Euro 2022 on Sunday. In the letter, the players say many of them had experienced quitting football in their teenage years. “Throughout the Euros, we as a team have been talking about our legacy and our aim to inspire a nation. Many will think this has already been achieved, but we see this as just the beginning,” they wrote. “We are looking to the future. We want to create real change in this country and we are asking you, if you become Prime Minister on September 5, to help us achieve that change.” A report by England Football, part of the Football Association (FA), found that just 44% of secondary schools provide equal PE football lessons for both boys and girls. “The reality is that we inspire young girls to play football only for many to end up going to school and not being able to play,” said the letter signed by the 23 players. “This is something we all experienced growing up. We were often stopped from playing. So we made our own teams, traveled all over the country and, against the odds, just kept playing football.” The letter asks Sunak and Truss to commit to ensuring all girls have two hours a week of PE lessons and to invest in and support female PE teachers as well as resources for girls’ football sessions. “This generation of school girls deserves more. They deserve to play football at lunchtime, they deserve to play football in PE and they deserve to believe they can one day play for England.” Labor MP Bridget Phillipson has written to the Education Secretary calling for a “guarantee of equal access” to PE courses in schools. The DfE’s current guidance is that schools must provide “comparable sporting activities”, which it said was outdated and limited girls’ access to sport. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST The DfE has refused to commit to ensuring girls have access to football in schools. A spokesman for Sunak said: “Rishi believes passionately in the importance of sport for children’s development and would like to see all schools provide two hours of PE per week… he is committed to immediately launching a review of women’s football if prime minister to ensure that all women and girls have the opportunity to take part in the beautiful game.” A Truss spokesman said: “Liz wants equal access to all sport for boys and girls and supports campaigns such as the FA’s Let Girls Play campaign. It is committed to investigating what prevents schools from providing the recommended minimum of two hours of physical activity per week.’