A Brief History of Women’s Soccer

Editorial – At a time when we’re savoring the sight of the women’s game in full bloom, it’s impossible not to wonder how much bigger it might already be – and how much richer its story would read – had jealousy and sexism not slammed the brakes on progress in the early 20th century.

The records tell us this is no modern fad. International women’s matches were being played in Britain as far back as 1881. The British Ladies’ Football Club, formed in 1895, regularly drew crowds north of 10,000. During the First World War, teams sprang up from the munitions factories; a cup competition followed, and when Blyth Spartans met Bolckow Vaughan in the final, 22,000 people turned up to watch.

By 1921, women’s football was often more popular than the men’s. And that, perhaps, was the problem. The English Football Association intervened, declaring that “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged,” and banned women from playing on FA member pitches. The ban lasted 49 years.

England was not alone. Brazil, France and Germany followed suit. France’s ban ran from 1941 to 1970. Germany’s from 1955 to 1970. Brazil’s wasn’t lifted until 1979. Progress didn’t just stall; it was deliberately derailed.

Women’s soccer carried on in England regardless, pushed to smaller venues with poorer facilities and scant resources. The English Ladies’ Football Association was formed in the same year as the FA ban. One of the most famous teams of the era, Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C., existed from 1917 to 1965, playing largely for charity. Gate receipts supported injured servicemen – a generosity that some suspect hastened the FA’s intervention, because the men weren’t making money from the women’s game.

In 1922, Dick, Kerr Ladies embarked on a tour of Canada and the United States, only to be blocked in their tracks. As the Washington Post reported, the Dominion Football Association objected to women football players. Matches went ahead in the USA but doors were closed in Canada, voices were silenced.

Ironically, renewed interest in women’s soccer was triggered by the men’s FIFA World Cup in 1966, hosted by England. By 1970, those bans were finally lifted, followed a year later by UEFA encouraging national associations to manage the women’s game. The revival began – slowly, stubbornly.

Italy introduced part-time professionalism in the 1970s. Indonesia launched an amateur cup competition in 1981. The U.S. Women’s National Team was formed in 1985. Japan unveiled the first-ever semi-pro league in 1989. The first FIFA Women’s World Cup arrived in 1991. Women’s soccer joined the Olympic Games just 30 years ago, in Atlanta.

The USWNT’s second World Cup triumph in 1999 sparked the creation of the Women’s United Soccer Association, the first fully professional league in women’s soccer. It lasted three seasons. Its successor, Women’s Professional Soccer, followed the same three-year path. The foundations were being laid, but the walls kept collapsing.

Then came the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013. Eight teams. Modest beginnings. Quiet determination. Now, as the league prepares for 2026, it will boast 16 teams, with Denver Summit FC and Boston Legacy joining the party. The trajectory is unmistakable.

Today, women’s soccer is stronger than it’s ever been. There are domestic, confederation and international tournaments. Girls at grassroots level have idols to emulate and genuine careers to dream about. In the USA, talent can lead to collegiate scholarships. Media coverage has grown. Big business sees the women’s game as a strategic asset, not a novelty.

The truth is stark. Women’s soccer wasn’t held back because there was no interest. Players wanted to play. Fans wanted to watch. It was held back because it was seen as a threat to a male-dominated sport. Short-sighted? Sexist? Jealous? A toxic cocktail of all three?

And yet, here we are. Just over 50 years since the doors were finally reopened, the momentum swirling around Denver Summit FC feels like a thunderclap echoing across a century. The clamor for season tickets. The potential for an NWSL attendance record at their home opener. USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps will join the club in the summer. The buzz, the anticipation, the sense that something important is happening.

This is the level of interest the women’s game enjoyed in England more than 100 years ago – at a time when women couldn’t even vote. They had to fight to play the beautiful game. Not because they lacked desire. Not because they lacked talent. Not because they lacked fans. But because they were denied a level playing field.

So, heading into the 2026 NWSL season, every sold-out stand, every broadcast deal, every young girl lacing up her boots is a quiet act of defiance against a century of closed doors. The women’s game didn’t ask for charity. It asked for a chance.

It waited. It endured. It survived.

And now, at long last, it’s doing what it was always destined to do – not just catching up with history, but sprinting past it, head held high, the roar of the crowd in its ears, the future wide open, and new, glorious chapters waiting to be written.

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