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Celebrating Women's Legacy in Football: A Journey Through Time with Double Tap

Today, on International Women’s Day, Double Tap is taking a moment to rewind history and delve into the roots and evolution of women’s football, from its beginnings to the present day.


England, the birthplace of women's football (1881)

It was in 1881 that the first official women's football game took place. It happened in Great Britain (in Edinburgh) where eleven Irish women met eleven English women. Unfortunately, the press at that time discussed only the outfits and the appearance of the players. The Glasgow Herald, a local newspaper, reported on the match: “The young women, who must have been between 18 and 24 years old, were very well dressed.


The Scots wore blue jerseys, white shorts, red stockings, a red belt, heeled boots, and a blue and white cap. Their English sisters had white and blue jerseys, stockings, and a blue belt, heeled boots, and a white and red cap.’



Rapid growth

Women's football flourished throughout the United Kingdom. In 1895,  Florence Dixie, a Scottish feminist and aristocrat, founded the British Ladies Football Club. Games were organised across the country and attracted several spectators. Later, the owner of the Dick, Kerr & Co. factory in Preston, northern England, created their women's team in 1917.


The Dick Kerr Ladies played mainly charity matches in front of audiences.

In France, Fémina Sport, founded in 1912, was the first women's football club. The sport developed in the Paris region, especially in working-class neighbourhoods. The first French championship was established in the 1920-1921 season. The first encounter between French and English women took place in 1920 in Manchester and united more than 12000 spectators.


A major setback (1920-1970)

But very quickly, under health and moral pretexts, male football authorities would sideline women's football. In England, the Football Association decided to ban the practice in 1921.


In France, In 1919, the French Football Federation (FFF) was founded. However, it refused to allow women to participate in sports. To counter this ideology, the Federation of Women's Sports Societies of France created the Women's French Football Championship. Henri Desgrange, the founder of the Tour de France, stated in 1925, “Let young girls play sports among themselves, in a strictly enclosed field, inaccessible to the public: yes, agreed. But to perform in front of an audience, on certain festive days, where the public is invited, even dare to chase a ball in a field that is not surrounded by thick walls, that is intolerable!" Some doctors even believed that football could make women sterile or even kill them! The French championship stopped in 1933.


As for the Vichy government, which was initially favourable to women's sports, it banned women's football in 1941, deeming it "harmful to women".


The 1970s, the revival of women's football

In the mid-1960s, women's football came back to life through curtain-raiser matches. Although unofficial, the first European Cup contested by four countries (France, England, Denmark, Italy) was organised in 1969, as was the first World Cup played in 1970. In France, under the FFF, the French championship restarted in 1974-1975, although it wasn't until 1984 that a woman, Marilou Duringer, was elected to the FFF Council. Despite this, women's football still faced clichés because it didn't “align well” with the idea of femininity at this period.




The 2011 World Cup

This competition, held in Germany, marked an important turning point in the development of women's football. The matches were played in full stadiums, and there was significant media coverage. In France, the newspaper L'Équipe dedicated three front pages to the French team, which finished fourth in the competition. Subsequently, television broadcast rights became more substantial. As for the results of French teams, both national and club, they improved year by year. Women's football emerged from the shadow of its male counterpart.


2018 first `Ballon d’Or’

Women had to wait until 2018 to have the opportunity to win a Ballon d'Or. It was on December 3, 2018, that the Norwegian Ada Hegerberg received the first Women's Ballon d'Or.



Records

Nowadays the women’s game has grown to incredible heights and it keeps breaking barriers. FC Barcelona’s Women’s Team filled the iconic Camp Nou with more than 90.000 people, more than once, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand broke viewership records and week by week more and more people are invested in women’s football games.

As we mark International Women’s Day, we reflect on the enduring legacy of women in football. From overcoming barriers to making history, their passion and perseverance inspire us all. At Double Tap, we're proud to support and celebrate the incredible women shaping the game!



Where did the first official women's football game take place in 1881?

  • A) London

  • B) Edinburgh

  • C) Manchester

  • D) Glasgow


Who founded the British Ladies Football Club in 1895?

  • A) Florence Dixie

  • B) Ada Hegerberg

  • C) Marilou Duringer

  • D) Henri Desgrange


When did the first match between French and English women's teams occur?

  • A) 1881

  • B) 1895

  • C) 1917

  • D) 1920


What year did the French Football Federation (FFF) refuse to allow women to participate in sports?

  • A) 1881

  • B) 1895

  • C) 1919

  • D) 1921


When did the French women's football championship restart under the auspices of the FFF?

  • A) 1969-1970

  • B) 1974-1975

  • C) 1984

  • D) 2011


When did Ada Hegerberg receive the first Women's Ballon d'Or?

  • A) 2011

  • B) 2018

  • C) 2021

  • D) 2024


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