Sisters are doing it for themselves

Thanks to Social Media, Ingrid Green and Joli Academy I have become increasingly fascinated with the world of Women's Soccer. Please do not take offence at the use of 'Soccer' I suspect that its the predominant word for the beautiful game the world over. That fascination has nothing much to do with the female form and everything to do with the obvious energy, enthusiasm and tremendous potential of the women's game worldwide. Nonetheless the aesthetics of women playing the game have aroused enormous controversy. Sepp Blatter infamously and stupidly called for tighter shirts and shorter shorts for female players in 2004. Yesterday's man, he is of no great consequence in the future of Soccer, and in particular the female version. However at times women have given the impression that, perhaps through lack of confidence , they do feel the need to 'sex up' soccer. Players from Dutch club FC de Rakt convinced their management to allow them to wear short skirts and tighter tunics. They argued that the new uniforms were 'more elegant and also comfortable'. At the last World Cup in Germany, French players, including Elodie Thomas, posed naked in Bild to 'publicise their sport'. Germany were quick to follow suit with a Playboy spread.

Elodie Thomis

                                                                       

Meanwhile there have been converse arguments about the suitable attire for female Muslim players. FIFA has now allowed the wearing of hijabs after protests from countries such as Iran. Their national team had to forfeit qualification for London 2012 because of the then ban on wearing head scarves, allegedly for safety reasons. A level playing field has been created and it is exciting to see that so much of the world is ready to embrace the game.
Ironically this might have happened almost a century ago had it not been for an act of chauvinism which endured for 50 years. I am shocked to learn, but not entirely surprised that the English FA performed the role of 'villain of the piece'. Following the First World War the Women's game in England took off, particularly in the north of the country, and associated with munitions factories, to such an extent that it was not fanciful to compare its potential popularity to that of the men's game. Indeed in 1920 53,000 spectators were inside Goodison Park, Liverpool, home to mighty Everton, to watch a women's game. Reports estimate that some 10 - 15,000 further fans were locked outside. For reasons that are difficult to comprehend now, the English FA killed this rival stone dead by introducing a ban on women's football matches at grounds of FA affiliates. The ban remained in force until 1971.

Today the 'custodians' of the game have embraced women's soccer. The game is played by an increasing number of female players and the organisation and professionalism of the sport is gathering pace. Women's soccer has been accepted. Major international competitions such as the UEFA Women's Championship inaugurated in 1982 and the World Cup, which first took place in China in 1991 and was won by USA are now well established in the soccer calendar. The 1999 World Cup Final in Los Angeles between USA and China attracted a crowd of 90,000 fans and was the most viewed soccer event in US television history.
At club level things have proved more problematic. In England there are 2 reasonably well established competitions for the elite. the FA Women's Cup and the FA Women's Super League. I sense that exposure is growing , but to give some perspective, last Sunday Chelsea visited Arsenal Ladies at the Emirates and attracted a record crowd for a FAWSL match' of a mere 5,000 odd fans.
Across the Channel French women's football continues to develop. The FWNT has achieved a better image than the men, and that has nothing to do with Bild. There was widespread disaffection with the men's national team after the scandals of WC 2010. The elite French Women's league contains 12 teams. Some, such as Lyon are professional, but the majority are not as yet so advanced. Some French players have had exposure to professional leagues in the US. One indicator of advancement is the accessibility of TV coverage of games online.
There is a theory, at least advanced in France, that the French are disadvantaged vis a vis their American counterparts by the school system. The days are long and there are only 3 hours of sport per week. It has been suggested that the French lack the strength and conditioning of the young American players. The French are very technical and seek to work on this aspect of their game to compensate for other perceived weaknesses. Judge for yourselves on the 25th July. France kick off the Olympic Football 2012 against the USA at Hampden Park.
The USA is the most volatile, but also the most promising staging ground for elite club soccer. There is every chance, if it is organised correctly, and the internecine warfare of recent times can be overcome, that a professional league in the US can establish itself as a forum for the world's greatest players to perform.
The Women's Profesional Soccer league (WPS) was founded in 2007 and commenced in 2009. It survived 3 seasons, but it was beset by instability. It did attract players from all over the world, but the number and nature of the teams kept changing and it made significant losses. There were legal wrangles which do not need further discussion here, but which ultimately caused the league to be suspended from the end of January 2012 and this season will not happen. This is a particular pity for myslef because I have an interest in the fortunes of JOanna Lohman and LIanne Sanderson (JOLI) who would have performed for the Philadelphia Independence.
However it has recently been announced that the Women's Professional Soccer Elite league will attempt to take the place of WPS. WPSL is due to commence on the 10th May 2012. It will include 3 teams with WPS experience, Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars and 2011 WPS Champions Western New York Flash. There will be 13 teams in total.
There is enormous potential in the women's game in America. The game is widely played amongst girls and women and players such as Alex Morgan, of the USWNT and lately of Western new York Flash, are huge superstars. Alex has currently got half a million twitter followers. I have 384 at the last count!

Alex Morgan

 
                                                                   
I am extremely confident that the women's game will continue to progress and that it can even rival the men's game in future years.
In part 2 of this series to follow shortly, I will examine the women's game in the Southern Hemisphere and Middle East  in more depth.