The Women's Association Football Portal
Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and 187 national teams participate internationally. The same rules, known as the Laws of the Game, are used for both women's and men's football.
After the "first golden age" of women's football occurred in the United Kingdom in the 1920s, with one match attracting over 50,000 spectators, The Football Association instituted a ban from 1921 to 1970 in England that disallowed women's football on the grounds used by its member clubs. In many other nations, female footballers faced similarly hostile treatment and bans by male-dominated organisations.
In the 1970s, international women's football tournaments were extremely popular, and the oldest surviving continental championship was founded, the AFC Women's Asian Cup. However, a woman did not speak at the FIFA Congress until 1986 (Ellen Wille). The FIFA Women's World Cup was first held in China in 1991 and has since become a major television event in many countries. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
Megan Rapinoe (/rəˈpiːnoʊ/ ; 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.
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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.
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Members of the Qatar women's national football team line up prior to a friendly match against Kuwait, 2012.Did you know?
- ... that while football is the most popular women's sport in Gambia and the U-17 has played in a World Cup qualifier, the Gambia women's national football team has not played a FIFA sanctioned game? (10 May 2012)
- ... that the only FIFA recognised matches Anguilla women's national football team have played in were against Antigua and Barbuda, US Virgin Islands, Barbados and Grenada? (13 May 2012)
- ... that, in 1969, British sports journalist Julie Welch became the first female in Fleet Street to report on a football match? (16 June 2011)
- ... that Emilia Appelqvist was the captain of the Swedish team at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup? (8 July 2013)
- ... that Megan Rapinoe (pictured) is the first soccer player, male or female, to score a rare Goal Olimpico at the Olympic Games?
- ... that Birgit Prinz leads Germany in goals scored and caps.
Selected national team
The Central African Republic women's national football team represents the Central African Republic (CAR) in women's international football competitions. The team played two games in 2004 and a match in 2006 against Senegal that was recognised by FIFA, football's international governing body. The team has not participated in the Women's World Cup, but the country's youth national team has played in several matches and events, including an Under-19 World Cup qualifying competition in which the team lost in the semi-finals. As is the case across Africa, the women's game faces numerous challenges. Football was only formally organised in 2000, and there are only 400 players competing at the national level.
News Archive
- 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
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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
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