Portal:Women's association football
Introduction
Women's association football, usually known as women's football or women's soccer, is the most prominent team sport played by women around the globe. It is played at the professional level in numerous countries throughout the world and 176 national teams participate internationally.
The history of women's football has seen major competitions being launched at both the national and international levels. Women's football has faced many struggles throughout its history. Although its first golden age occurred in the United Kingdom in the early 1920s, with matches attracting large crowds (one match achieved over 50,000 spectators), The Football Association initiated a ban in 1921 that disallowed women's football games from taking place on the grounds used by its member clubs. This ban remained in effect until July 1971.
Selected article
The Saudi Arabia women's national football team would be the national team representing the kingdom in international football. However, the team does not yet exist because of influence of religious leaders in Saudi Arabia and systematic discrimination against women's sport, active opposition of political leaders and sport administrators. International pressure has come to bear on the country to field a women's team, and FIFA now allows the hijab to be worn in competition. A meeting at the College of Business Administration in Jeddah was seen as a possible first step in a team eventually being created.
Despite a lack of official support for a national team and women's football in general, women have self-organised their own teams and play games out of the sight of men. Created in 2006, King's United women football club was the first women's football club in the country. No official data is kept regarding participation rates for women football players.
Selected biography
Megan Rapinoe (/rəˈpiːnoʊ/ (
listen); born July 5, 1985) is an American professional soccer midfielder and Olympic gold medalist who currently plays for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League. She is also a member of the United States women's national soccer team. She previously played for the Chicago Red Stars, Philadelphia Independence, and magicJack in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) as well as Olympique Lyonnais in France's Division 1 Féminine.
Rapinoe is internationally known for her crafty style of play and her precise cross to Abby Wambach in the 122nd minute of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinals against Brazil, which resulted in an equalizer goal and eventual win for the Americans after a penalty kick shootout. During the 2012 London Olympics, she scored three goals and tallied a team-high four assists to lead the United States to a gold medal. She is the first player, male or female, to score a Goal Olimpico at the Olympic Games.
Rapinoe is an advocate for numerous LGBT organizations including the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Athlete Ally. In 2013, she was awarded the Board of Directors Award by the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. She is sponsored by Nike, Samsung and DJO Global and has appeared in multiple promotional pieces for clothing company, Wildfang, as well as Nike.
Selected league
The FA WSL, formerly given the working title FA Women's Super League, is the highest division of women's football in England. The league is run by the Football Association and began in April 2011. An initial eight teams currently compete in the league, which replaced the FA Women's Premier League as the highest level of women's football in England. As yet there is no system of promotion and relegation with the Women's Premier League, which continues to play a winter season. WSL seasons run from April until October, with teams playing 14 matches each, totalling 56 matches. The WSL champions and runners-up qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League the following season. The current champions are Liverpool, who won the title in the 2013 season.
The official name The FA WSL and logo of the league were announced on 19 November 2010.
Selected image
Members of the Qatar women's national football team line up prior to a friendly match against Kuwait, 2012.Did you know?
- ... that the female footballer Bilgin Defterli decided to go to Germany because she saw no chance to play football in Turkey due to the dissolution of women's football leagues in 2003? (19 December 2013)
- ... that Leyla Güngör scored a goal against Spain in her first game as a member of the Turkey women's national football team? (December 23, 2013)
- ... that Arzu Karabulut currently plays for both German and Turkish football teams? (January 7, 2014)
- ... that women's football forward Seyhan Gündüz was capped 32 times internationally, scoring 12 goals, a rate of 0.375 a match? (January 28, 2014)
- ... that Sydney Leroux (pictured) represented Canada before deciding to play for the United States women's national soccer team? (February 16, 2014)
- ... that two-time Olympic gold medalist Carli Lloyd is the only player to score the game-winning goal in two consecutive Olympic gold medal soccer matches? (March 4, 2014)
- ... that Megan Rapinoe (pictured) is the first soccer player, male or female, to score a rare Goal Olimpico at the Olympic Games?
Selected national team
The Saudi Arabia women's national football team would be the national team representing the kingdom in international football. However, the team does not yet exist because of influence of religious leaders in Saudi Arabia and systematic discrimination against women's sport, active opposition of political leaders and sport administrators. International pressure has come to bear on the country to field a women's team, and FIFA now allows the hijab to be worn in competition. A meeting at the College of Business Administration in Jeddah was seen as a possible first step in a team eventually being created.
Despite a lack of official support for a national team and women's football in general, women have self-organised their own teams and play games out of the sight of men. Created in 2006, King's United women football club was the first women's football club in the country. No official data is kept regarding participation rates for women football players.
In the news
- December 17: Wikinews interviews former Matilda's player Sarah Walsh about Australian women's soccer
- December 7: Wikinews interviews academic Steve Redhead about Australian women's soccer
- January 7: Abby Wambach wins FIFA World Player of the Year
- November 19: Canberra United lose first game since January 2011
- July 27: London Olympics organizers apologize after North Korea flag gaffe
Subcategories
Topics
Ways to contribute
- Join: Add your name to the members list of the Women's football taskforce
- Contribute: Check the Taskforce's Open task list and see if there's a task you would like to contribute to.
- Assess existing articles: (see WP:WPFA for assistance) or nominate some of our existing B-class articles for Good Article (GA) or Featured Article (FA) status
- Improve existing articles: Work on expanding articles in Category:Women's association football biography stubs with relevant content and citations
- Project Tagging: Tag the talk pages for any articles that are within the scope of this project with {{Football|Women = yes}} and {{WikiProject Women's sport}}.
- Translate: the page of clubs/players from corresponding articles in other language Wikipedia articles to English Wikipedia, if we have them as red links.
- Recruit: editors who have contributed to articles related to women's football and Portal:Women's sport
Related portals
 Women's Sport |
 Association football |
 English football |
 Football in Germany |
 Soccer in the USA |
 Olympics |
 Feminism |
 Sports |
