Women's football in England facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Women's football in England
National team during 2019 Women's World Cup.
Country	England
Governing body	The Football Association
National team(s)	Women's national team
National competitions
FIFA Women's World Cup UEFA Women's Championship
Club competitions
FA Women's Super League FA Women's Championship FA Women's National League North FA Women's National League South FA Women's Cup FA Women's League Cup
International competitions
UEFA Women's Champions League

Women's football has been played in England for over 100 years. It shares a long history with the men's game in the country. This is where the official rules of football were first written down.

In the early 1900s, women's football was very popular. But its popularity dropped after the men's Football Association (FA) banned it. It wasn't until the 1990s that more women started playing and watching. England even hosted the Women's European Championships in 2005.

History of Women's Football

Early Days of the Game

It's hard to say exactly when women first started playing football. Most people think football in the Middle Ages was a men's game. But there are small clues that women sometimes played too. For example, Sir Philip Sidney mentioned women playing in a poem from the 1500s. Also, Mary Queen of Scots was known to watch the sport. Some even claim a ball she owned is the oldest football still around!

As football became more organised in the late 1800s, women's football also grew. In 1881, a team representing England played a series of matches against Scotland. These games in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and north-west England were the first international women's football matches ever. One game in Glasgow had over 5,000 fans!

Later, in 1887, a match between Edinburgh and Grimsby led to claims that Grimsby was the first women's football club. By 1889, other women's football clubs were reported in England, Scotland, and Canada.

How Women's Football Grew

In late 1894, Nettie Honeyball started a team called the British Ladies' Football Club (BLFC). Lady Florence Dixie, a famous person, was their president. The Lady Footballers toured England, playing teams all over the country.

However, women players faced challenges. Many chose to play using fake names, like "Mrs Graham". This was to avoid trouble for playing football. The British Ladies Football Club only lasted for less than two seasons.

Football clubs also saw women's growing interest. In 1885, Preston North End started letting women in for free. They hoped women's presence would make male fans behave better. This worked well, bringing 2,000 women to Preston's next match. Other clubs quickly copied this idea. By the late 1890s, free entry stopped because clubs realised they were losing money.

As women's teams became more famous, some played games at the same stadiums as men's teams. They often had large crowds. For example, a game in 1895 at Reading's home ground, featuring the British Ladies Football Club, drew more fans than any previous men's game there.

Football During World War I

Dick, Kerr Ladies in 1921

When the First World War started, men's football was mostly stopped. But women's football became even more popular! Women's games raised millions of pounds for charity.

During the war, many women worked in factories. They were encouraged to play sports to stay healthy. Many played football during their lunch breaks. They formed unofficial teams like Bella's Team and the Blyth Spartans.

One factory worker, Grace Sibbert, was asked by Alfred Frankland to start a team for charity. This team became famous as Dick, Kerr's Ladies F.C.. They played 828 games between 1917 and 1965. In their first few years, they raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity. This would be like tens of millions today!

One of their most famous matches was on Boxing Day 1920 at Goodison Park in Liverpool. It attracted an amazing crowd of 53,000 people! Another 10,000 to 15,000 fans were turned away because the stadium was full. In north-east England, the Munitionettes Cup in 1917–18 was also very popular. It featured a star goal-scorer named Bella Reay.

Even after the war ended in 1918, women's football stayed popular. Dick, Kerr's Ladies played more games in 1920 than any professional men's team. International women's games also began. In 1920, a French team toured England to play Dick, Kerr's Ladies. They played in front of tens of thousands of fans. These were the first international matches between women's clubs. Dick, Kerr's Ladies then toured France and came home to cheering crowds.

The Ban and Its End

In the 1920s, some people started saying that football was bad for women's health. In 1921, the Football Association (FA) banned all women's teams from playing on FA-approved grounds. They said the game was "not fitted for females." They also complained about player expenses and claimed there was money corruption.

Alice Barlow, a Dick, Kerr's player, said women players disagreed. She explained, "we could only put it down to jealousy. We were more popular than the men and our bigger gates were for charity." While a few teams, like Dick, Kerr's, found other places to play, most women's teams broke up. Fan numbers also dropped.

For many years, professional women's football almost disappeared. Women created their own amateur leagues, like the English Ladies' Football Association (ELFA). This league had 57 teams, but it had fewer fans and less money.

After England's men's team won the 1966 World Cup, interest in football grew. In 1969, the Women's Football Association (WFA) was formed. It helped create a women's England team and a top league. Two years later, UEFA ordered the FA to lift its ban on women's teams. In the same year, the Mitre Challenge Trophy was created. This was the first national cup for women's teams in England. It later became the FA Women's Cup.

The WFA did a lot to help the game grow. They even took an English team to the European Championship Final in 1984. But a lack of money still made it hard for the sport to grow at a local level.

Around this time, women also started working in other football roles. Mary Raine became the first woman to report on sports for the BBC in 1969. Patricia Gregory helped start the Women's FA.

The Game Comes Back Stronger

The FA started getting directly involved in women's football again in 1993. By then, the WFA had already created the Women's National League. This became the Women's Premier League in 1992. Most professional men's clubs started their own women's teams. The sport slowly grew.

In 2008, the women's league system changed a lot. A new top league was announced: the Women's Super League (WSL). It took the best eight teams and put them into one division with no relegation. The goal was to get more attention and money for the game. The WSL faced some problems early on. It was delayed until March 2011 because of money problems from the 2007 global recession.

When it launched in 2011, the WSL was successful. It grew to two divisions and 20 teams by 2014. In 2018, the Women's Super League became fully professional. All 11 top-flight teams had full-time players.

Today, the FA directly runs the top women's competitions. The most important national cup is the FA Women's Cup. The top national league is the FA WSL (Women's Super League). Before the WSL started in 2011, the FA Women's Premier League National Division was the top league. It is now the third and fourth levels of the league system.

England is one of eight countries allowed to send two teams to the UEFA Women's Champions League. This has been true since 2009–10. The two spots usually go to the top two teams from the WSL. Women's football also has two other important cup competitions:

• The FA WSL Cup, played by WSL teams.
• The Premier League Cup, for teams in the Premier League and its regional divisions.

The WSL used to play in the summer, while other leagues played in winter. But since autumn 2017, women's football now follows the same winter calendar as the men's Premier League.

The women's football league system was changed a lot in 2014. The WSL added a second division called WSL 2 (now the Women's Championship). The original WSL became WSL 1. The Premier League's regional divisions became the third level. For the first time, teams could be promoted from the Premier League into the WSL.

To help women's football, the FA lets cup finals be held at men's Premier League or Football League stadiums. For example, in 2013–14, the FA Cup final was at MK Dons's Stadium mk.

The Women's FA Cup got its first sponsor, SSE, after the London 2012 Olympics. This showed how much women's football had grown. However, clubs often spend more money to enter the tournament than they win in prize money. In 2015, it was reported that even if Notts County won the tournament, they would still lose money. The men's FA Cup winner that year received £1.8 million.

Reaching the Top

England women's team in February 2015

After the 2012 Olympics, the women's game in England faced a challenge. They didn't get past the group stages at Women's EURO 2013. This led to a new manager, Mark Sampson.

The women's game got a big boost when they finished third at the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada. They beat Norway for their first knockout stage win. Then they beat host nation Canada in front of a huge crowd in Vancouver. They lost a tough semi-final to Japan. But they bounced back to beat Germany 1-0 in extra time for third place. This was the first time England had ever beaten Germany in women's football!

Finishing third meant England was the top European team at the World Cup. It was also the second-best World Cup result for any England senior team. Only Sir Alf Ramsey, Bobby Charlton, and Bobby Moore's men's team, who won the 1966 World Cup, did better. During this time, women's football got a lot of positive media attention in the UK. The FA Women's Super League also launched, and Sport England started its This Girl Can campaign in 2015.

The 2015 Women's FA Cup final between Chelsea Ladies and Notts County Ladies was held at Wembley Stadium for the first time. The largest crowds for English women's games were at Wembley. These included the 2012 Olympic final (USA vs. Japan, 80,203 fans) and an England vs. Germany friendly in 2019 (77,768 fans).

At Euro 2017, the national team won their group but lost in the semi-finals to the Netherlands. At the 2019 World Cup, they also reached the last four. In July 2022, Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman led England to a 2-1 win over Germany in the final of Euro 2022. This was Wiegman's 20th match in charge. England had won 18 and drawn 2, including winning the Arnold Clark Cup earlier that spring.

League System in England

The current national league system for women's football in England was created by the Women's Football Association (WFA). The WFA's Women's National League divisions started their first season in 1991–92. Before that, there were only regional women's leagues, which still exist today.

The Women's National League (1991–1994) had three divisions:

• Premier Division (Level 1)
• Northern Division (Level 2)
• Southern Division (Level 2)

Teams could move up or down between these levels each year. The Football Association took over running the women's leagues in the 1994–95 season. They kept the same structure but renamed the top division the FA Women's Premier League National Division. This was the top league until the 2009–10 season. The Combination Women's Football Leagues (Level 3) began in 1998–99.

When the Women's Super League (WSL) started in 2011 as the Level 1 division, it pushed all other divisions down one level. The Women's Premier League National Division ended after the 2012–13 season. It was replaced in 2014 by WSL 2, which is now called the Women's Championship. From 2011 to 2013, the WSL used a special license system, so there was no promotion or relegation.

From 2014 to 2018, the "Women's Premier League" name was used only for lower leagues at Levels 3 and 4. These were the Northern and Southern divisions, and the four regional divisions of the Combination Leagues. In 2018, the "WPL" was renamed the Women's National League, going back to its original name.

Below Level 4, there are eight regional leagues at Level 5. Below those are the county leagues.

Some Welsh women's football clubs also play in the English league system. The most successful ones are Cardiff City and the former Barry Town. Both have played in the Women's Premiership.

Here's a simple overview of the top levels since 1991:

League Pyramid Structure

Here's a look at the top levels of the women's football pyramid today:

Below these, there are Regional Leagues at Levels 5 and 6, and then County Leagues at Level 7. These leagues help teams move up the pyramid.

Cup Competitions

Here are the main cup competitions and which league levels can enter them:

• FA Women's Cup: Teams from Levels 1 to 5 can enter.
• FA Women's League Cup: Teams from Levels 1 and 2 can enter.
• FA Women's National League Cup: Teams from Levels 3 and 4 can enter.
• FA Women's National League Plate: Teams from Level 4 can enter.

See also

• Bans of women's association football
• England women's national football team
• Football in England
• List of women's football clubs in England and Wales
• Women's Super League