Brief History
Women's football has actually been played in England for over 100 years.  The first match recorded was in 1895 held between a northern and southern team on March 23rd with the North winning the game 7-1.  Its popularity has continued to grow and the 1920s was a big era for women's football where crowds of up to 50,000 watched teams such as Dick Kerrs ladies from Preston played matches to raise money for charity.  Unfortunately The Football Association banned women from playing on league grounds in 1921 and this effectively destroyed the game in this country for over 40 years.  When the England men's team won the World Cup in 1966 football mania swept the country and a resurgence in the women's game began.  From 1969 to 1993 the Women's Football Association set up and ran a successful England team, a national league, an F.A. Cup competition all on limited funds but it was very hard for them to develop the game further at grass roots level and in 1993 The F.A. took control.

With The F.A. taking over the game women's football received a major boost in terms of access to funding and resources.  An example of this is in 1993 there were only 80 girls teams, today there are over 3,500 in schools and clubs and an estimated 45,000 under-16 players.  Now there are 31 Girls Centres of Excellence mainly linked to men's clubs, 20 academies and a fully funded scholarship programme for elite England players at Loughborough University.  At senior level there is a women's Premier League, F.A. Cup and League Cup for domestic competitions as well as school competitions, festivals and girls' leagues.  At England international level we have Under-16, Under-18 and senior sides so you can play for fun or right up to wearing the England three lions.

If you want to play football what can you do?

• Allow SPORTSEARCH to provide you with information about clubs in your area.
• Join a local team.  There should be one in your area.  Phone The F.A. Girls' Football hotline on 0845 310 8555 and they will send you info on the game and contacts for teams in your area. The line is operational from 9.00am-9.00pm every day.
• Join a school football team. There are hundreds of schools now playing girls' football.  If yours is not one of them ask your teacher for advice!
• Set a team up! Get your mates involved and make a team. Football has benefits above and beyond the health aspects.  Research has shown that playing a team sport helps develop leadership and teamworking skills, increase confidence and self-esteem and is great fun!  Your local County F.A. will be able to advise you how.
• Log onto www.the-fa.org for details on local clubs, counties and girls' football information

The Football Association
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