Women’s Football

The principle aims of The F.A. are to maximise participation, increase opportunities and increase quality (for players, administrators, officials and coaches). Our work on women’s football fulfils all these objectives.

Women’s football is an integral part of the footballing world in England. The F.A. is committed to the development of the women’s game from grassroots to the very top level.

Women’s football is now not only the fastest growing sport in this country, but it is also the No.1 female sport. In 1993 there were 10,400 players and today there are 88,000 . Compared to netball, the traditional favourite sport of girls which has 56,000 registered players, football has 61,000 affiliated players. These figures show a massive growth in participation since when The FA took over the running of the sport in 1993 when there were just 80 girls teams – in season 2001-02 there were 2,400 teams.

Women’s Football is also one of the most supported amateur sports in the country (14,000 at the England v Germany international, 13,000 at the 2001 F.A. Women’s Cup Final, and 10,000 at the 2002 FA Women’s Cup Final).

Women’s football in England has a professional future and The FA is committed to professionalising the game. Research is underway on the logistics of a women’s pro league and Fulham set an example when they went professional last season. In May 2002, Arsenal Ladies announced their intention to turn semi-professional next season.

ENGLAND

• Hope Powell runs the Senior, Under-19, Under-17 teams.
• Hope has led the seniors to the finals of the 2001 European Championships. 2002 has been a good year for the Under-19s, who reached the semi-final of the 2002 European Championships and the inaugural FIFA U19 World Championship quarter-finals.
• Hope is an ‘A’ licence coach and runs the mentoring scheme to help more women get into coaching at the top level.
• Hope has also set up the International Player Development Centre - a scholarship programme for England female players at Loughborough University.
• England have now qualified for the World Cup play-offs, with the semi-final play-offs being held in August and September 2002. (England started their qualification campaign for the 2003 World Cup against European champions Germany in September 2001. After going down 3-0 early in the game, England fought back to 1-0 with a goal from Rachel Yankey. They drew 0-0 with Holland in their second qualifier and 1-1 away to Portugal in their third. In their fourth 2003 World Cup qualifier, England attracted a record crowd of 8,821 to Portsmouth FC’s Fratton Park stadium where they beat Portugal 3-0 , then secured a 4-1 win away against Holland in April before going down 1-0 at home to the European Champions Germany in front of a record 14,107 people.
• England Under-19s reached the semi-finals of the 2002 UEFA European Championships, losing 1-0 to the holders and eventual winners Germany. They have qualified for the inaugural FIFA Under-19 World Championship in Canada in August.

PROFESSIONALISM

This is one of the most ambitious of our F.A. aims but it is on track to happen.

We will be the first women’s team sport to work towards professional in England and the first ‘professional’ women’s football league in Europe. We want to set the standards for others to follow.

To let our players compete at the highest level we must provide them with the opportunity to play and train every day, and to be able to use the best of facilities.

Research has shown that professionalism is inevitable and that The F.A. must lead the development to ensure it is structured and will survive long-term.

Fulham have shown how standards can be raised dramatically.

At the end of 2001, The F.A. commissioned an external marketing company – Activate – to research the logistics of a professional women’s football league, looking at established sports models to come up with a blueprint of how such a league could work. We are currently working hard on the blueprint, ensuring that such a league would be sustainable.

We are working to professionalise the game at all levels, from pitches to ticketing and the general promotion of the game to allowing the opportunity where talented and committed girls can make a career out of their sport.

SPONSORSHIP

 Nationwide, the world’s largest building society and current sponsor of the England football team, has renewed its sponsorship with The Football Association. They have joined the new F.A. Partners commercial programme and will be the exclusive sponsor of the women’s football pillar.

The multi-million pound deal, as the first ever specific sponsors of national women’s football in England, is the biggest of its kind in Europe.

Nationwide will have title sponsorship of the three flagship women’s leagues, under the banner of The F.A. Nationwide Women’s Premier League. Nationwide will also enjoy title sponsorship of The F.A. Premier League Cup and sponsorship of The F.A.Women’s Community Shield.

GROWTH FIGURES

When The FA took over the running of women’s and girls football in 1993, there were just 11,200 registered players – today that figure stands at over 61,000! Football reached a landmark achievement in the season 2001-02 when it became the top female sport in England – two years ahead of FA objectives! In reality, with figures from mini soccer, there are 88,000 players. The new figures incorporate girls who have joined the sport through greater awareness of opportunities to play following the launch of the ‘Girls Football Get Involved’ hotline. 

Those figures are expected to keep growing and a national advertising campaign in June 2002 should drive more participation in the game. The Football Association teamed up with its sponsors to launch a national advertising campaign to boost involvement in grassroots football, which included a specific advert to encourage women and girls to get involved in playing. The adverts, which were created by M&C Saatchi, ran in national newspapers throughout England’s World Cup campaign seeking new coaches, kit washers, tea makers and players for the 40,000 amateur clubs.

The campaign came as research conducted on behalf of The F.A. had shown that 1.4 million girls were taking part in some sort of footballing activity on a regular basis. A survey conducted by quantative market research company BRMB has found that 85 per cent of girls aged 7-15 in England took part in some form of footballing activity in May 2002. As much as 65 per cent of that age group were playing football at least once a week – a figure of 1.4 million girls.

DEVELOPMENT

Women’s football is a key part of The F.A.’s Development Programme:

Top Sports – putting football bags in every primary school at the cost of £6 million to provide opportunities for both girls and boys and to train teachers who are predominantly female.

Active Sports - £8 million over 5 years to co-ordinate girls football around the country, ensure girls know what their opportunities are. This funding comes from The Football Association, Sport England and the Lottery. This scheme also sees the establishment of Talent Camps, where talented players are pooled into regions to be offered the best available coaching and support. This also helps Hope Powell’s scouting system by identifying possible international players at a young age.

The F.A. are funding the appointment of development officers in every county to deliver programmes including girls and women’s football opportunities (77 appointed so far).

10 F.A. Regional Development Managers (male and female) working really hard all over the country to help introduce the playing opportunities required by today’s football loving girls and women.

F.A. WOMEN’S CUP

The 2001 F.A. Cup Final at Crystal Palace had a crowd of nearly 14,000 and a real festival atmosphere with lots of activities for families and children to enjoy.

The final was shown live on BSkyB with full match commentary on BBC Radio 5 and coverage in nearly every national paper.

In the 2001-02 season BBC1 televised the Fulham v Doncaster Belles final live and attracted a record audience of 2.5 million viewers. Fulham won the game 2-1 in front of a crowd of 10,000 at Selhurst Park. The BBC comprehensively covered the whole competition across various mediums as part of their whole commitment to cover women’s football.

FA WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE

Women’s football has a pyramid of leagues within the AXA FA Women’s Premier League, with the National Division at the top where teams like Arsenal, Doncaster Belles and Charlton Athletic vie for league and cup honours. Arsenal have won the league four times in the past nine years and are the current holders. Sitting below the National Division in the three-pronged Premier League is the Northern and Southern Divisions which compete on an equal footing offering the winners each season a prized place in the top flight.

With 741 women’s teams, there are leagues of all standards throughout the country. The Women’s Football Conference (a member of The FA) is the representative body for these leagues, headed by Sue Hough, FA Women’s Committee member. There are 56 girls’ leagues around the country with further competitive structures to ensure girls can play for fun in an organised way.

34 teams participate in the AXA F.A. Women’s Premier League’s three divisions.

Arsenal have led the way but obviously Fulham now and others like Southampton, Bristol Rovers and Leeds United are realising the potential benefits to their clubs.

Southampton Saints attracted a crowd of over 4,000 to their league game against Arsenal in December 2001, held at the men’s stadium St Mary’s.

F.A WOMEN’S NATIONAL PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

In September, the National Coach Hope Powell launched a new F.A. initiative to identify talent and help England achieve their aim of winning the 2007 World Cup. The scholarship programme is being run in conjunction with Loughborough University and the Institute Of Sport, where the country’s most talented young footballers are given quality coaching every day and also receive a good education.

The girls, aged 16-21, applied for entry onto the three-year course and will study courses ranging from A-levels to degrees. The course is headed by Jane Ebbage, an ‘A’-license coach, and Powell will oversee its progress. All of the girls participating have represented England at either Under-16 or Under-18 level, and three are regulars in the senior squad.

All food, accommodation, education and training costs are met by The F.A. and the centre is sponsored by Umbro, who will be testing out women-specific training kit with the players. There are 19 players in the first intake and up to 15 players will be brought in every year.

The new intake for the 2002-03 season/school year have now been informed of their acceptance onto the scheme and will be announced at a press launch shortly.

‘GIRLS FOOTBALL – GET INVOLVED’ CAMPAIGN

The F.A. launched a national campaign in July 2001 to get more girls and women involved in playing football. ‘Girls/Women’s Football Get Involved’ centres around a local-rate hotline – 0845 310 8555 – where girls and women can ring to find out how to get involved in playing football for a local club.

Over 4,000 calls have been received to the hotline number to date.

The film ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ helped give exposure to women’s football on a different level and a large percentage of calls were taken by the hotline staff during April, when the film went on national release.

INITIATIVES

A TV contract has formalised women’s football coverage with 3 internationals live on Sky and F.A. Cup Final live on BBC this season. 

The inaugural Charity Shield took place on Saturday 11^th August 2001 at 12.00, being shown live on BSkyB. Arsenal beat Doncaster Belles at Kingstonian FC.

3 Lions characters  - Pauz was created to reflect the growing stature of the women’s game and especially important as communications tools for children, both boys and girls to show them that girls playing football is OK.

Following an agreement to a rule change at the AGM in May 2001, mixed football at Under-11 level is now permitted both in and out of schools.

The women’s football magazine, She Kicks, re-launched in May and is now part of Non-League media. It is endorsed by The F.A. and has national distribution.

BACKGROUND AND BRIEF HISTORY

Women’s football has been played in England for over 100 years. The first match recorded was in 1895 held between a northern and southern team on March 23^rd. The North won the game 7-1. Its popularity continued to grow and early 20^th Century was a big era for women’s football where crowds of up to 50,000 watched teams such as Dick, Kerr ladies from Preston play matches to raise money for charity. Unfortunately The Football Association banned the women from playing on league grounds in 1921 and this effectively destroyed the game in this country for over 40 years. When the England men’s team won the World Cup in 1966 football mania swept the country and resurgence in the game began. From 1969 to 1993 the Women’s Football Association set up and ran a successful England team, a national league, an F.A. Cup competition all on limited funds but it was very hard for them to develop the game further at grass roots level and in 1993 The F.A. took control. 

With The F.A. taking over the game women’s football received a major boost in terms of access to funding and resources. An example of this is in 1993 there were only 80 girls teams, today there are over 3,500 in schools and clubs and an estimated 45,000 under-16 players. There are 31 Girls Centres of Excellence mainly linked to men’s clubs, 20 academies and a fully funded scholarship programme for elite England players at Loughborough University. At senior level there is a women’s Premier League, F.A. Cup and League Cup for domestic competitions as well as school competitions, festivals and girls’ leagues. At England international level we have Under-16, Under-18 and Senior sides.

For more information:

Press: Bev Ward, FA Media Relations Officer, on 0207 745 4716 or 07970 237082

Marketing: Sarah Harris, FA Brand Manager for Women’s Football, on 0207 745 4737