The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has just finished and it does not need in-depth research to pronounce it as a massive success. Just about everything went right. The hosts, Australia and New Zealand, were accommodating and showed just why these countries should be considered for future major football tournaments – for women and men.
The action has been incredible, with help from passionate crowds that regarded the players as the superstars that they are. In short, the Women’s World Cup has been everything we had hoped it would be. But what happens now with the women’s game? This should be the springboard to even greater success, representation, and pay parity.
But we have seen in the past how women’s football has been left to its own devices. The Women’s World Cup betting markets have been in overdrive in the last month or so, but how can we learn from the past and keep money coming into the sport and regarding the players as household names?
Long History
Women’s football may be huge right now but most fans will know that we have been here before. The first golden age of the game was just after WW1 when matches would regularly attract crowds of 40-50,000. Female employment in heavy industry during the war had boosted the growth of women’s football and it is fair to say that women’s games were more popular than men’s.
But even before the beginning of the 20th century, women’s football was big news. Internationals had been held since the 1880s and competitive fixtures had been going on 20 years before that. Without the same kind of media spotlight that we have today, women’s football was still a huge draw.
Banning and Discrimination
Just as the crowds for women’s games were increasing, it all came to a shuddering halt. The Football Association (FA) in England effectively outlawed women’s football stating that the sport was unsuitable for females and that it should not be encouraged. Some teams continued playing but the crowds and interest fell away.
Many fans protested the ban at the time and there was a general feeling that the move was more down to jealousy than anything else. The FA didn’t make any money from women’s football and didn’t like the thought of being left behind. The ban was not lifted until over 50 years later and other countries had also brought in draconian measures, almost killing off women’s football completely.
Lack of Funding
It has been a long road back for women’s football and one of the biggest obstacles has been the lack of funding for the sport. Whereas the men’s game is awash with investment, with billions made and spent in La Liga, the EPL, Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, the women’s teams see a fraction of that amount.
Even in the US, where women’s football has taken off dramatically thanks to the success of the national side as compared to the men’s team, top clubs could be bought for just a few million. Without large amounts of money going into the sport at that level, women’s football was always going to struggle to compete.
Equal Pay
But it is not just in the boardrooms where money has been an issue. Things are changing, but there has been a lot of controversy over equal pay for players in recent years. The aforementioned USWNT has been one of the most vocal in demanding parity with its male counterpart – and clubs are now starting to introduce fairer pay structures as well.
The crowds and money made at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand have torn apart the usual claims that female players should make less money because there is less interest and money in the women’s game. Players in even the top leagues have historically earned a smaller percentage of the profits – and hopefully that will change now.
World Cup 2023
Although the interest and media coverage has been increasing dramatically over the last few years, this edition of the Women’s World Cup really does seem like a special moment. England’s victory at the Euros went some way in moving on from the injustices of the past. But this tournament has been something else.
The 2023 Women’s World Cup was the largest yet and featured countries from all over the world. As much as the success of the likes of England, Spain and Sweden should be applauded, it was the performances of nations like Nigeria, Colombia and Japan that have proved that women’s football is a truly global game and not just the sport for elites that it used to seem to be.
Domestic Leagues
What everyone involved in the women’s game is now hoping is that the success and excitement of the World Cup carries on into the domestic leagues around the world. The Women’s Super League in England and the National Women’s Soccer League in the US have grown remarkably in recent years and that should continue now.
But leagues in Spain, Japan and across the world should also follow suit. Individual football associations are beginning to realize that there is a demand for women’s football, but there are still some outdated views to deal with. It is a shame, but money talks – and even the most bigoted of opponents cannot argue with the potential of women’s football now.
The Future of the Game
As much as greater media coverage and investment is very welcome and should catapult women’s football onto an even greater stage, there is another aspect of the recent World Cup that really matters. Just like countless men’s World Cup tournaments before, there have been young children watching at home, dreaming of being footballers when they grow up.
The cliché at this point would be to demonstrate how today’s young girls watching the games can be the players of the future. But the young boys watching are just as important. They will be the generations that see no real difference between men’s and women’s football and support them all the same. There is a long way to go, but things are finally beginning to go right for women’s football.
Read more – Fide World Cup Winners List of All Time