Chelsea Women’s manager Emma Hayes has criticised toy shop Smyths Toys for not stocking any Panini Euro 2022 sticker albums. Panini launched their Women’s Euros sticker collection recently, which features all teams and the majority of players competing in the major tournament this summer. The stickers are being sold across a number of well-known retailers across the UK but it appears not all shops have got the memo. Hayes, who has managed the Chelsea Women’s team since 2012 and long been an advocate for women’s football, shared a snap of the Panini stickers on sale in one particular Smyths Toys shop. The image shows a number of Panini Premier League sticker albums on sale, but none for the new Euro 2022 collection. While it’s unclear which Smyths store Hayes was in, or if the situation is the same in multiple Smyths stores, Hayes stressed how disappointing it was to see no Euros sticker albums, when the competition starts this week. 

“In @SmythsToysUK and not a single @OfficialPanini women's euros 2022 sticker album on sale,” she wrote. 

“How can we push when the sport is still not visible enough. Our girls deserve to be seen.”

What are Panini stickers? 

Panini is an Italian company, founded in 1961, that produces books, comics, magazines, stickers, trading cards and other items. 

After forming a partnership with FIFA in 1970, Panini published its first FIFA World Cup sticker album for the 1970 World Cup. 

In 2017, a 1970 World Cup Panini sticker album signed by former Brazilian star Pele sold for a record £10,450. 

The company has the rights to the majority of football’s major competitions, including both the men’s and women’s European Championships. 

Panini Stickers

When does Euro 2022 start? 

Euro 2022 starts on July 6th and will run until July 31st. 

England are hosting the competition and will start their campaign against Austria at Old Trafford on Wednesday. 

The original tournament was scheduled to take place last year but was rescheduled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Lionesses

In total, 16 teams will compete –– the second time this has happened since the competition was expanded.  

The Netherlands are the defending champions, but winning coach Sarina Wiegman now manages the Lionesses. 

To find out more about the teams competing, you can check out our group previews here. 

And if you fancy your chances of deciding the winner, take a look at our predictions for each game. 

You can find all Euro 2022-related news here.