It is no
secret that association football is and has long been dominated by men. Players,
officials, directors and even medical staff have all traditionally been from
the male population. But all of that is changing, because although there have
been ladies teams at most professional clubs for many years, it wasn’t until
fairly recently that females have been able to play full-time.
For
generations, gender equality has been fought for in the work place, in the
family unit and also in sport. Of course, countless women have made history in athletics
and other Olympic sports, but football has always seemed to be that little bit
further behind.
On
the international stage, the USA has had a very successful 25 years. They won
the first women’s World Cup in 1991, were victorious again in 1999, and have
finished no lower than third in the other four tournaments. They have amassed
four gold medals out of a possible five in Olympic tournaments and finished
with a silver in the other.
That’s
how to dominate a sport. But where do the ladies from England rank in the
international game? To what standard is the sport played and what does the
future hold for females in football?
English
Roses
As
far as the sport goes in England, the Women’s Super League, or WSL, was
launched in March 2011. The League is made up of two divisions; one has eight
teams, two has ten.
All
of the usual suspects are in the top division, a handful being Arsenal,
Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Arsenal have been particularly
successful, collecting 14 league titles (12 Women’s Premier League and 2 WSL
wins), 13 FA Cups, 3 WSL Cups and a UEFA Champions League win. This has all
been achieved, quite impressively, within the last 25 years.
But
now some of the others are catching up. Since the inception of the WSL, players
have been given the opportunity to turn professional, with the initial format
allowing for up to four players per team to be full-time players on up to
£20,000 a year.
You
read that correctly - £20,000 per YEAR. It would take Wayne Rooney just over 11
hours to earn what a top player in the WSL would earn in a whole year.
Even
compared to their North American peers, this money seems paltry. Teams in the
USA’s Women’s United Soccer Association league have annual wage budgets of
around $2-3million (£1.4-2million), against to the WSL’s £200,000-300,000
figure.
What
the WSL does offer, however, is a stepping-stone into earning as a full time
player, something that was not available in any meaningful way beforehand. It
also deters our best players from flying across the Atlantic to play instead,
which will be vitally important if we are to compete as a national side.
The
Lionesses
The
national team’s fortunes have been mixed - much like their male counterparts -
but have never been lacking in individual ability. All-time leading scorer
Kelly Smith managed 46 goals in 117 caps over ten years for England and has
enjoyed extended successes with her club sides. She helped the ‘Lionesses’
reach the quarterfinals of the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, as well as finishing
runners-up at the 2009 European Championships.
Amongst
the current crop there is Chelsea’s Eniola Aluko, who herself has scored 26
goals in 83 England appearances. She is a full-time professional like many
others in the WSL, but she juggles that with her other profession as a
solicitor. Not quite your average 28-year-old footballer.
But
is there a future for more players to come through like Aluko and Smith? Is
there a long-term place for women in the game and how can participation be
preserved? The priorities have been creating the WSL, increasing the interest
of young girls in playing more football and to enable clubs to create better
infrastructures with a view to turning professional.
Like
the men’s game, money is a big thing in women’s football. The more there is,
the better chance it has of growing. Popularity and financing have increased,
so hopefully the number of women involved will too.
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