The beginning of an end
Women's football started on a steady path like the men's; however, it was left in the past frozen by the FA's misogyny and discrimination. The first public game played in a female football league occurred in March 1895. You wouldn’t believe they would later be banned from playing organised football. Nearly a century later, the development was few and far between, and 1982 saw the introduction of the UEFA women’s Euros with only 16 teams involved. With the first World Cup taking place seven years later, in 1991, to put it into context, the web was introduced, and the internet was made available in that same year.
By the 1920s, women’s football was a prevalent spectator sport, with 150 teams playing. The impact of the First World War saw women take on traditionally male jobs in factories and with that game of football to encourage health and well-being and boost morale. With the likes of Dick, Kerr & Co's team became infamous with the start of women's football between 1917 and 1965, winning 746 games out of 800. This was the state where the first “professional” women said they would be paid 10 shillings (50p) for expenses, plus drawing crowds in their thousands. This produced Lily Parr, who has undoubtedly had the most lustrous and becoming in her 30-year career with around 900 goals. For context, Ellen White is England's top scorer with 52 goals in 113 appearances spanning 12 years.
As you are aware, this wild success was later scrapped once the war had ended and women returned to more traditional roles of that time, as did the societal perspective of women playing football. In 1921, the 50-year ban on women's football started with the FA deeming the sport “unsuitable”, just as it brought in crowds of 53,000 and possibly revived the men's team. They discouraged the game and outlawed women from associating with members of pitches. Even a female doctor decided to denounce the game. For example, Dr Mary Scharlieb of Harley Street described it as the “most unsuitable game, too much for a woman’s physical frame”. However, these gutter women were not scared off by this setback. They formed the English Ladies Football Association on the 10th of December 1921—the resurrection story.
Women did everything for the next 40-plus years to keep the game alive, playing on rugby or waterlogging pitch. Their effect can only be seen as defiance towards the FA, “ you can't keep us away”. Due to the lack of hindrance, the FA were under increasing pressure to lift the ban. December 1969 didn’t just see the moon landing by a change in the tide. Women's football was back on the map “officially.” However, it never left. Some of the FA committee agreed that “ladies” football should no longer be considered to be classed as unaffiliated football. On the heroic day of 19 January 1970, the FA council finally voted to rescind the 1021 resolution. Women could now play on grounds affiliated with the FA, and registered referees could officiate women’s matches. Five This was step one. More battles are yet to come for our lionesses to grow the sports.
The main advances came in the 1980s-1990s, the Spice Girls and Girl Power era. The Women's World Cup became a stable event in the women's football calendar, with record crowds unheard of internationally. Women weren’t just making moves on the pitch. Still, off it, with women taking more managerial roles within the federations and serving the UEFA committee. With the sport growing and demands rising, a shift occurred in 1993 to pass all activities of the English FA due to their financial ability to nurture and grow the support to its full potential. This came with a dedicated woman committed to a full-time women's football coordinator post. It was becoming a place where there was a career in women's football, even if it was still off the pitch. 1993/4 saw the beginning of the women's FA Cup under new management, with 137 teams entering; you can’t say the game was ever small. A year later, more steps were taken to the WFA national league, and the cup was placed under the FA's responsibility, which saw the beginning of women's support and the birthplace of the Women's Premier League. With all this change, it would not be unsurprising that the England women's team were given a full-time manager in 1998, Hope Powell CBE, who later became Brighton and Hove Albion women's manager in the WSL. She bleeds women's football.
The Turn of the Century
The beginning of the 2000s came with many changes and steps. This turn of the century was the beginning of women's football becoming a professional job, a paid job, and an aspirational yet achievable goal for young girls. In 2002, football became the top athletic team sport for women and girls, and this was hit three years before the FA target. Grassroots foundations nationwide were significantly boosted with the 2005 euros hosted on home soil. With a record crowd in attendance and a TV audience bombing, 29,092 people watched in the Etihad Stadium when England beat Finland 2-1. This was the start of England Lionesses' success in the new century. The 2000s ended with the senior team winning the Cyprus Coupe their first international trophy and reaching the final of the UEFA Women's Euro 2009. This was the beginning of the breakthrough that would come in the 2010s. With the Women's Super League being founded, the FA had entered the deadline day and set for clubs to submit their application into the league. Sixteen clubs applied for the league white light to be successful and contest the first season.
The first game was shown on TV, this historical landmark event of April 2011 when Arsenal defeated Chelsea at home. The names kept rolling back home from the likes of Alex Scott and Kelly Smith rejoining Arsenal after three years away. The strides kept occurring on an international level with a home Olympic. The crowds flocked to Wembley for GB v Brazil, with 70,584 people watching in front of this new entrant in women's sport. 2013 was a massive step with the Professional Footballers Association making union memberships open to all registered Barclays WSL players. This was a move to recognise the league professionally and define players' rights. It was also the year of the inaugural PFA Women's Player of the Year award, with their presence ever expanding to Young Paper of the Year and Team of the Year. The league was growing, and there were two. The drama intensified on the pitch with a dramatic league final with the trophy hovering between three potential winners. With all this taking place on BT Sport, It was the first year the FA Cup was held at Wembley between Chelsea and Notts County, with Chelsea cementing itself in the history books as the first to win under the arch. Teams were able to compete with BT Sports hosting the laundry, with 14 live games provided. The senior team was now a serious contender on European and world stages. They took bronze in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, reached the semi-finals of UEFA Women’s 2017 EURO and got to the same stage again in the FIFA Women’s World Cup two years later in France 2019.
Official table change-up was given to align with the men's calendar and introduce the UEFA Women's Champions League to the English League in 2017, a year before the WSL became an entirely professional competition. This was only in 2018, the year England men made it to the final of the World Cup. To put it in perspective, this is a new concept in the last five years. This led to the expansion and rebranding of the top tier or women's pyramid, and 11 teams were successful in their bid for the top flight.
When the money came running in, Barclays came marching, saw an opportunity and pounced and marked the biggest-ever investment in UK women's sport by a brand. Prize fund was given to the league of £500,000, which was not done so before. Marketing the game and the players increased on the side of billboards everywhere. This was the nationalisation of the sport and growth outside the game itself.
Their semi-final defeat to the USA attracted a record 11.7m viewers on BBC One. Earlier in the same year, they won the She Believes Cup for the first time. This success saw ever-increasing crowds at England matches, with 77,786 fans at Wembley to see the senior team face Germany in November 2019. Plus, record levels for Super League crowds for derby weekends, 38,262 Spurs vs Arsenal, 31,213 Manchester City vs Manchester United, as it was precisely the first-weekend spotlight in the women's game during men's international window at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium with a state-of-the-art pitch to boot. Following the stunted development due to the pandemic, football was back in March 2021, which saw the FA account deals with Sky Sport and BBC to include 57 live games per season for streaming, bringing investment and access to the great game. The top three teams each season qualify for the UEFA Women’s Champions League. The WSL has increased the visibility of women’s club football worldwide, attracting star players from overseas and broadcast partners in Australia, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, New Zealand and the US.
Ten years after the beginning of the WSL, we have seen teams go full-time and professional, players becoming icons for the next generations, and catching the next generation of homegrown talent and abroad players looking to England.
THE PRESENT- Let's hear the lioness’s roar.
Dutch women came marching into St Georges demanding the lionesses to play on the same field as the men, treated like a lion, play like a lion. This women's team could be considered more successful than the men's. Though they've not come home with significant silverware, they have also been grasping and attained multiple medals and accolades on how the time would change out with the old and in with the new. Feminism was back in this team with a successful women's manager. In Serena, we trust. She has more managerial trophies than Phil Neville had at the time, but that was hard; we believe a trophy differs from a European Winners medal. 2021 was looking bright and tight with a home Euros coming to town. Could the Lionesses change England's luck and bring back that 1966 home-winning spirit? Lucy Bronze, a formidable defender for England, said, “We’ve wanted to get the game back to where it should have been, and it’s been a long time coming.” “We have had to deal with a lot of stuff being put in our way, but we’ve finally got the game up in lights”. Oh, don't those bright gold shiny medal lights shine so brightly? People watched the Euros people, and they were captivated. This was a big step for women in sports. Kiera Walsh put it, “We’ve got an opportunity to push the game and women’s sport…supporting women in society in general, that’s a massive part of our jobs going forward.” You would be shocked when you look back On the Euro success, “back in 2018, we were begging people to host a women’s game for this euro in their stadiums, so many people said no. I hope you’re all looking at yourselves right now because you weren’t brave enough to see the vision… I’m not standing up at corporate events anymore begging for them to get involved in women’s games… if they are not affected, you missed the train because it finally left the station and it gathering speed,” as Alex Scott said to BBC. The final grabbed the nations clinging on the edge of their seats, with 17.4 million people watching the final on the BBC and 87,192 in the stadium itself. It was not the end of the 2022 season of successes, though, as Debbie Hewitt MBE became the first FA women's chair in its 157-year history. 2022 is the year of history breakers and makers internationally and in the WSL. As of September 2022, 47,367 fans attended the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham at the Emirates, showing the rivalry is embedded in both games. Media coverage and general interest in the game has never been higher. As well as a massive success on the field, the game-changing tournament created over 400,000 new opportunities for girls and women to engage in grassroots legacy football activities. The win was the glorious icing on the cake of a decade of growth and investment. It was a wonderful serendipity that the win came in the 50th anniversary year of England Women, a moment we all got to celebrate at Wembley on 7 October 2022 when Jill Scott presented the original 1972 team with their long-awaited caps.
The ninth World Cup came and went, leaving its mark on the game forever. Thirty-two nations competed from all around the world. The first Muslim country played in Morocco, and the first woman to play at this level wore a hijab. This was a moment to serve and remember for a whole month; the world was focused on Australia and New Zealand, the hosts of this beautiful game. Records broke minds and changed eight new debutante countries—finally, the fall of the USWT and the rise of European superpowers. From age 40 to 16, 736 players put everything out on that pitch. Although it was considerable heartbreak for England and, as a fan, a day to forget, I must remember the journey we have been on and will continue on that path. I sat in Wembley Boxpark watching England beat Australia, who had a home advantage. My heart was coming out of my chest; I felt it all, which is what football is all about. Although we hate to see countrywomen suffer halfway around the world, it proves that with more investment and time, this team will not want to be faced and feared by their opponents. But the drama off the pitch stole the thunder with broadcasting rights in danger; Europe could have gone dark with no football as the price went up, and countries didn't want to pay for the game to develop and show off their formidable women's team. But the reward money shows the discrepancy between the two games. The men's recent World Cup total prize pot was $440 million, and the winner's money was $42 million. Still, the women's total prize money was $110 m, with the winning team receiving $10,5m, which is ¼ of what tameness teams received even if it revealed a 300% increase from the previous World Cup. It is, unfortunately, a tipping scale that is ever-changing.
One minute, you have achieved everything on a high of adrenaline.
Jenni Hermoso was supposed to be living the dream, not a nightmare. Kissing Gate bore the name of the shameless act of the Spanish FA chief, Luis Rubiales, kissing her without Consent. He broke the law. People saw and demanded that the law be enforced that no man should be above the law or social ethics. A man in power abused it and said it was consensual, suggesting his actions were innocent. People did not see it that way, and neither did Ms Hermoso. One man decided to make the whole night about him. A man's ego overshadowed their success in winning. He believed an apology and a 90-day suspension by Fifa which would suffice. However, to make change, action has to happen. There should be no place in sports where laws must be broken in principle for men or women. But how can the game develop if it is being pushed back? How can it stand against the men's team if people don't respect the players and their world?
A man decided to play down this assault to one between friends. Nothing was friendly about it; consent wasn’t given, and Hermoso made a formal complaint. The prosecutor complained to the judge at the Audiencia Nacional court in Madrid. This man still says he was consential and maintains that the truth will come out. He kept his role for weeks after the assault. This is a horrific precedent to set for future generations. This shows that although some things have changed from the times of Lily Parr and Dick, Kerr & Co's team, some people aren't willing to support and incite the change that is needed for the game to grow.
The future of women's football is inevitable, but the obstacles these women may face are unprecedented—one step forward, two steps back. But the race is on, and this woman wouldn't give up without a good fight.
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