**WOMEN'S FOOTBALL, A STORY OF SPECTACULAR AND RECENT GROWTH**

By Fabio Lardo

At the Women’s Euro 2005, the UEFA announced record attendance – 29,092 people were present in Manchester for the England-Finland match. At the Women’s Euro 2022, 87,192 spectators watched the English Lionesses take home the trophy, an impressive progression in under 20 years’ time.

There is little doubt that football is the most popular and most practiced sport in the world. Its scope is dizzying: full football stadiums, colossal TV rights, players earning more than the GDP of some countries. Hence the power of this sport, watched every day and in all countries of the world.

Since its inception, football has been considered a man’s sport. Unfortunately, it still has trouble including women. Women's football is less than 100 years old and still goes unnoticed by the public. Although it got off to a promising start, this young discipline has encountered many difficulties.

However, in recent years, women's football has been gaining momentum, attracting the interest of sponsors and the media. The major football associations are also catching on to its potential, investing massively to help it catch up to its male counterpart.

Today, many people consider the women’s game to be the future of the sport, because the room for growth is still large and attractive from all points of view...

A BIT OF HISTORY….TO UNDERSTAND

Women's football was born in England with the first official match on 9 May 1881 in Edinburgh, during which Her Majesty's selection faced the Scots. A week after this event, more than 5,000 spectators watched the rematch in Glasgow. From then on, the sport developed across the United Kingdom!

In 1917, during World War I, attempts were made to organize the first women's matches in France. But because of the fighting, sports and societal revolution were put on hold. This didn’t stop an English industrialist from promoting women's football and encouraging women to practice. While the young men were sent to the front line, he created a women’s team to entertain those who remained behind. Neighboring cities did the same. During Christmas of 1917, the English Dick Kerr Ladies team organized a charity match, which was played in front of 10,000 spectators and which raised hundreds of pounds to support the soldiers at war.

On the other side of the English Channel, the French finally managed to organize the famous first women’s football match in Paris, in 1917. A Championship was set up quickly, and, from 1920, opened to provincial players. Femina Sport, a Parisian club founded by two physical education teachers, established itself as the best team in France by winning the championship 11 out of 14 times between the years 1918 to 1932.

The level and growth of women's football in France became comparable to that of the English. This led to the organization of the first international match between the two best teams from France and England, which brought together 25,000 people in Manchester on 29 April 1920.

Despite phenomenal enthusiasm for the sport, both in England, with 150 teams, and France, with 16, the English Football Association (FA) decided to ban women's competitions. "One does not see a decent young girl playing football in a boy's suit, with big muddy shoes, and running around like crazy, with a red and sweaty face, jostling with other young girls of her age," vilified the author Charles Torquet in 1918 in La vie féminine.

Indeed, the number of opponents to the feminization of football had been growing, arousing a large number of misogynistic comments. From then on, competitions in France no longer had the same appeal and gave way to a lot of harsh speeches. In 1932, women's football was condemned and banned.

It was not until the early 1970s that the ban was lifted, leaving an abyssal hole of 40 years without women's football being able to grow. England, France, but also Germany and Italy, once again allowed the discipline to take root, even if the main European and world institutions, UEFA and FIFA, did not set up women's competitions until 1991.

THE UNITED STATES FIRST, EUROPE SECOND

USWNT — Francisco Seco / Associated Press

Today, women's football is dominated by the United States national team, four-time World Champions and the favorite in every competition. That being said, the European continent is still widely represented at major events and competitions, with a large number of federations present. In the quarter-finals of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, seven out of eight of the qualifying countries were European.

Even though the United States has a remarkable team, since 2010, Europe’s presence and involvement in the sport has been increasing exponentially. Two of the last three World Cups were played in Europe, one in Germany (2011) and the other in France (2019).

After having given a long head start to emerging nations such as the United States, China, Japan and Canada, which have gone on to win and collect titles or places of honor in the Women's World Cups, the European federations are catching up. With the exception of Germany, which has always been a powerhouse in men's and women's football, the countries in Europe where football is most present have joined the movement and have begun to invest heavily in the development of women's football over the last 10 years.

France got the ball rolling in 2010, and, together with the French Football Federation, injected a large amount of money into the women's selection. The decision was aimed at restoring its national football image, particularly following the scandal – a player strike and altercation between team members – that occurred in South Africa during the 2010 Men's World Cup.

Other important European football federations are following the same path and reasoning. This is particularly the case in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, long considered top competitors in the men's game, who were unable to qualify for the World Cup in Russia in 2018 or who were eliminated during the first round of the tournament. These countries are motivated to boost their women's teams, which have captured the hearts of their country's fans and the budgets of their federations.

We must not forget the importance of the clubs, which train the players and pay their salaries, and without whom the football federations cannot exist. The club owners and managers have understood the importance of investing in women's football. Not only is it less expensive than men's football, but it is also highly profitable and improves the image of the club. The successful Olympique Lyonnais, a club from Lyon, France, spends less than 10 million euros per year on its women's team, proving that with a small budget, it is possible to win European titles, as well as comprise an important part of the national team selection.

HUGE POTENTIAL, WHICH ALSO EXTENDS TO THE NATIONAL TEAMS

Women's football is a booming market, especially where the national teams are concerned. Admittedly, men's and women's football are not played on equal terms. Of the 44% of the world's population who say they are interested in football, only 16% are passionate about the women's game. To give you an order of comparison, women's tennis fetches the attention of 23% of the fanbase.

This currently small segment of the market has enormous potential for revenue growth, mainly in television rights and sponsorship. It also complements men's football, where colossal revenues are reaching their limits. Women’s football is a new market to nourish, where any increase in popularity can generate a lot of income. Women's football is a discipline that is ready to reach a new potential, and many are already surfing of its wave.

WOMEN'S FOOTBALL, A STORY OF SPECTACULAR AND RECENT GROWTH