By Sidney Wise

 

Increasing Popularity and Success

In 2002 the growth of women’s football is highlighted by The Football Association announcing that football had become the number one participation sport for girls and women in England which had been achieved three years ahead of schedule. Moreover, 2005 was the year that the UEFA Women’s Championship came to England. The first match attracted a crowd of 29,092 whilst a further 2.9 million people watched at home on the TV. Furthermore, the overall crowd from the 15 games was an impressive 115,816.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2005 UEFA Women’s Championship in England. Credit: UEFA

 

In 2006 England qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in China after a 12-year absence from the competition. They would later go on to reach the quarter finals where they were defeated by the USA. This was 2007, the year where Arsenal became the first ever British team to win the UEFA Women’s Cup. Arsenal would go onto become a powerhouse in England, though they were shocked in the 2008 FA Premier League Cup Final as they were beaten 1-0 by Everton, their first defeat in 55 games. Despite this, Arsenal secured a fifth straight Premier League title and completed the double, winning the FA Women’s Cup in front of a record crowd of 24,582 at the City Ground, home of Nottingham Forest. There was further success in 2008 as England qualified for the 2009 UEFA Euro Finals in Finland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image Courtesy of Katie Chan (Wikipedia Commons)

 

In 2009, there were yet more trophies for Arsenal. They achieved triple success as they won the FA Women’s Premier League Cup Final against Doncaster Belles. Arsenal lifted the FA Women’s Cup by beating Sunderland in front of 23,291 at Derby County’s Pride Park. Finally, Arsenal won a sixth Premier League title to complete the treble. This was also a good year for England. Firstly, they won their first international honour as they beat Canada to lift the Cyprus Cup. Moreover, England reached the Final of the UEFA Championship for the first time in 25 years, where they would unfortunately lose to Germany 6-2.

 

The Women’s Super League

In 2010 it was announced the ‘Women’s Super League’(FA WSL) would be introduced. This was an eight-team summer competition that was officially launched in April 2011. Unsurprisingly, the eventual winners of the competition were Arsenal who also went on to win the WSL Cup (Continental Cup) adding to their FA Women’s Cup win that year. In addition to this, the England National Team reached the quarter Finals of the World Cup in Germany where they would lose on penalties to France.

 

 

 

Growth and Popularity

In 2012 the Olympics were held in London and this helped promote the women’s game as Team GB reached the Quarter-Finals. There was yet more success for the national team as England managed to qualify unbeaten for Euro 2013, where they unfortunately didn’t make it past the group stages but, the Cyprus Cup was won for a second time. In 2013 The Football Association celebrated 150 years of running football alongside 20 years of supporting women’s football.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Team GB took on New Zealand in the group stages of the London Olympics: Credit: Olympic

 

In 2014  a record crowd of 45,619 watched England women play Germany at Wembley. In 2015 England women took Bronze at the World Cup in Canada. In the same year SSE were announced as the partner of the Women’s FA Cup as the final was played at Wembley for the first time. A record crowd of 30,710 watched as Chelsea defeated Notts County 1-0. In 2017, England reached the semi-finals of Euro 2017 whilst in 2019 they went on to win the SheBelieves Cup for the first time and finished fourth at the World Cup in France. Another record was broken by England’s semi-final against the USA as 11.7 million cheered England on at home. Yet another record was beaten as 43,264 fans watched as Manchester City thrashed West Ham 3-0 in the FA Cup at Wembley. Lastly, investment in the women’s game was taken to a whole new level in 2019 as in March, Barclays were announced as title partner of the FA Women’s Super League. This is rumoured to be a company’s largest ever investment in women’s football in the UK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2019 Women’s FA Cup Final. Credit: BT Sport