Ellen Wille is the unsung hero of modern women's football.
The pioneer who stood into a male-filled FIFA audience and told them to do better, defining all odds they heard her and eventually responded.
That was not the only battle she had to undertake. She fought to get women's football recognised in Norway, and once she won, she wanted to continue that to the world.
Wille said: “I got furious, and I said we have to do something about it.”
Though football is now a popular sport for women in Norway, this has not always been the case; in the past, it was handball and skiing.
While training for handball, Wille asked her teams if they would start an unofficial football competition. They asked other players in the district, and suddenly, she had 16 teams to compete.
So when organisations say there was no interest in women's football in the 1970s, there was your evidence.
Though nobody took them seriously due to sexism in the sport, they did not want to stick to the status quo, so they made a bold choice and joined the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) in 1976.
She had no money and no officials who understood the uphill battle she had to endure, and there was no way organisations would reduce financial support to boys to help girls.
Wille said, “The men thought we were going to steal their resources; that’s what they were obsessed with.
“They didn’t understand that if more people put pressure on elected officials to build pitches, it would serve everyone and that they would soon have more coaches and referees if the whole population were involved in football.”
In an interview with the French daily newspaper Liberation.
She said: “I was much more useful negotiating in the offices than on the field. I’ve never been an outstanding football player.”
She demanded aWorld Championship for women and in the Olympic Games.
In 1986, all her efforts came to fruition when she walked to the podium at the 45th FIFA Congress in Mexico City to promote diversity and discipline.
With the idea that if it were women up there instead of men, it would mean more.
She was the first woman bar translator in the room and the first to speak.
Wille said: “I am standing at just 1.50m in height, and the microphone is too high in front of a hundred men. I know I am the first woman to stand in this gallery. Imagine this situation. It was terrifying.”
At the time, only half a page of their annual report was dedicated to women’s football, while 99.9% of this report was for men only.
She said: “I had to start my speech with a scream of anger.”
This caused quite a stir in the football industry. The Norwegian delegation demanded the creation of a Women's Football World Cup and a place for women footballers in the Olympic programme. FIFA agreed with the demands.
An official FIFA of the 1986 congress thanked her and said they would deal with the topic, work towards the demands, and organise a tournament in 1988.
Sepp Blatter, the right-hand man to the President of FIFA Havelange, said that Wille should have her world championship.
Wille said: “That was very nice to hear. I hoped for it, but I didn't think it would [happen]."
Blatter made a speech at the Germany World Cup, saying Wille had frightened him in front of her.
Ravn Omadal, the President of the NFF from 1987 to the present, believed Willes's speech and Blatter's response were vital catalysts.
A Test World Cup was held in China in 1988, which was successful and was the starting point for the first official tournament in 1991.
In 1991, the title was given “1st FIFA World Championship for Women’s Football for the M&Ms Cup,” and later, it was rebranded as the World Cup.
45 countries participated in qualifying rounds for the women's cup, while 120 countries participated at the same point in the 2023 Australia World Cup.
This came 61 years after the first men's game in 1930.
The matches only lasted 80 minutes, which was changed for the next edition in 1995 in Sweden, in which Norway won that trophy.
All this success came from Wille's drive, ambition and fearless nature to know what women wanted and get it.
In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, women could finally participate in football.
36 years of history was made again by the NFF’s first female president, former Norway international Lise Klaveness, footballer, mother, and lawyer.
Wille said: “Women’s football has taken huge steps forward.”
The game's popularity among women in Norway has grown, with 110,000 women playing it competitively. This is almost 30% of Norway's total number of players, compared to French female players, who barely reached 8%.
On the pay side, in October 2019, the Norway women's national team was paid the same amount as the men's international team. Given that they reach more competitions and are placed higher than the men, does this reflect their success?
Though first-division women's footballers who are 100% pro are uncommon in Norway, they are paid only two days a week for training and also work a lot part-time.
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