Michelle Agyemang and Chloe Kelly enjoy a reception at No 10 Downing Street on Tuesday afternoon [Alecsandra Dragoi / No 10 Downing Street]

THE joyous celebrations in central London on Tuesday were a special moment, with the streets lined by fans welcoming the Lionesses home from their Euros success in Switzerland.

It helped that the parade came in the school summer holidays as it meant it was a real family occasion.

Nevertheless, it was impossible not to notice as you walked through the crowds how few boys and young men were there.

Harrington ate lunch in a sandwich bar near Victoria after the show and it was busy only with girls and women of all ages wearing their replica kits and equipped with flags and whistles.

It seemed strange that this unofficial segregation exists when as a nation we’d be moaning that football didn’t seem to ever come home until the women’s team won their first European championships four years ago – the feat being gloriously repeated on Sunday night.

Of course, it was fantastic to see barriers fall and the belated realisation that football is a sport for all.

What the Lionesses have done will hopefully encourage generation after generation to get the chance, if they want it, to enjoy the thrill of the game – playing, watching, dancing, celebrating. But the current crop of players can’t really do much more than what they have done to change opinion. They probably just want a monent to celebrate being the champions, without being asked every single time what their success will mean for society.

The time is now for allies to step up and insist that this is given the importance it deserves, and not just when Chloe Kelly does something amazing on the pitch or says something funny afterwards.

Ian Wright, the former Arsenal striker and England International, was attacked by former Chelsea forward Eni Aluko for what she said was taking pundit opportunities from women. It was an awful misfire.

In reality, Wrighty had been one of the precious few male stars who have encouraged more televised matches, more participation, more interest.

To really move things on to the next leap, fathers and sons should follow his lead ­and could have been there at the party on Tuesday with the mothers and daughters.