The History of Woman's Football: Better, But Still Awful

Women's football has enjoyed a surge of popularity in recent years. The recent Women's World Cup managed to gain more attention than ever before. However, there's still an inequality issue between the men's and women's game, especially among countries with traditionally strong men's programs.

The Football Association, which is currently the governing body for both the men's and women's game in England, had banned women from playing on any FA-regulated pitch from 1921 until 1972, citing that the game of football was "unsuitable for females." It was only under pressure from UEFA that the FA finally lifted the antiquated ban within a decade of Margaret Thatcher's election. Even then, the FA only came to control the women's game in 1993, which has set the women's national team at a competitive disadvantage that they are still attempting to overcome.

England's unwillingness to nurture the women's game has been eclipsed by other countries in Europe. Spain is one of the biggest offenders to the idea of equality in women's football.The women's game there is a casualty of Spain's machismo culture, which instills gender-normative behaviors into both boys and girls at a young age. In Spain, it is accepted that women shouldn't play football. This has led to Spain, who have one of the richest men's football traditions in the world, qualifying for the Women's World Cup for the very first time in 2015. That squad wound up petitioning for the removal of head coach Ignacio Quereda, who had been in charge of the side for 27 years in spite of the national team's history of ineptitude.

Perhaps the most damning condemnation of Europe's relation to women's football has been the unprecedented success of the United States. The U.S., who has next to no football tradition save for a handful of impressive World Cup runs in recent years and a fortuitous 1-0 victory over the Three Lions in 1950, boasts a women's side that has been historically dominant. The United States Women's National Team (USWNT) have won four out the past five Olympic tournaments. They've also won the Woman's World Cup three times and have never placed lower than third in the competition.

The irony is that America's general disinterest in football has likely contributed to the USWNT's success. Women have traditionally been subjugated when it comes to basketball, American football, and baseball. The three major sports in America only have one female counterpart (the WNBA, or Womens National Basketball Association). Women traditionally play a lesser version of baseball called softball, for which there is no professional league. As for American football, the only competitive league of note for women is the Lingerie Football League, where competitors play in bras and panties. Due to the general lack of oversight when it comes to soccer, however, the woman's national team has managed to thrive.

Progress has been made by football-playing countries over the past fifty years in relation to the woman's game. Competition has been fierce as it ever has been, and countries that base their athletic identity on the strength of their men's football teams have started cultivating women's programs to match. However, the progress to equality has been a slow one. And no country can claim to be truly civilized until men and women have the equal opportunity to play competitive football on a global stage.

(Photo via UFV)