Identifying Best Practice in Women's Football - FIFA/CIES ...

most successful teams has been chosen and analysed according to key indicators 4 to provide amap of best practice.The requests for research of this nature came from clubs, leagues, national federationsand UEFA. This combined with a relative lack of contemporary studies has led theformulation of the research question and area of inquiry. While not being the panacea for thefuture of women’s football, this project does offer insightful analysis and practicalrecommendations for the practitioners and managers of women’s club football, especially inthe European context.Chapter 2: Context and Background2.1 European Women’s Football2.1.1 Brief History of European Women’s FootballWomen’s football in Europe has a history as lengthy as the men’s game, however most oftenit is mired in societal rejection, both culturally and on the field. Women began playingorganized football as early as 1888 5 , most teams formed by workers of the same factory, suchas the most famous example, ‘Dick, Kerr Ladies’. In this early growth of women’s football,“whether [they] were politically motivated, following fashion, or tentative enthusiasts of asport, the football authorities viewed their involvement as a nuisance” 6FA had banned women from playing on grounds of member clubs. 7"By 1921, the EnglishThis attitude towardswomen’s football permeated most of Europe. Women in France began playing in the late1800s, early 1900s, but as societal pressure mounted, the women’s game all but disappearedfrom the media by the 1930s. 8 In Germany, the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB) discouragedwomen from playing and, in 1955, banned clubs from forming women’s teams. 9As the cultural change spread across Europe after WWII, there was an increase ofwomen participating in sport, including football, giving rise to the ‘modern history’ ofwomen’s football. Although it highly discouraged women’s football only 15 years earlier, in""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""4 Explained detail in Chapter 3: Methodology.5 A game in Inverness, Scotland in 1888 appears to be the first recorded women’s football game, Jean Williams,“The Fastest Growing Sport? Women’s Football in England,” Soccer & Society, 4, 2/3 (2003): 1136 ibid., p.114.7 ibid., p.115.8 Gertrude Pfister, ‘The Challenges of Women’s Football in East and West Germany’, Soccer & Society, 4, 2/3(2003): 128-148.9 ibid., p.131.7"