Women's football in Germany
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| Women's football in Germany | |
|---|---|
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| Country | Germany |
| Governing body | Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. |
| National team(s) | Women's national team |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
International competitions | |
Champions League FIFA Women's World Cup (National Team) European Championship(National Team) Olympics(National Team) | |
Women's football in Germany is quickly becoming very popular in Germany largely due to the success of the women's national team.[1][2][3][when?]
History
[edit]Women in Germany have been playing football since the turn of the 18th century, but women playing sports were frowned upon by the general population and citizens. The "Sports Girl" did not come into fashion until the 1920s when women started to form their own clubs. Lotte Specht was one of the first female to form a women's only football club.[4] Christa Kleinhans was another pioneer of women's football in Germany. In 1955 the German Football Association declared that they would not permit women into the association stating that women were frail and unable to perform in the sport without injuring themselves. During the 1960s there was discussion about setting up a Woman's Football Association, but it never panned out.
The DFB finally officially allowed women players on October 30, 1970, but there were modifications to the rules.[5] Firstly, women were only allowed to play in warm weather. Secondly, football boots with studs were banned and the ball was smaller and lighter. Lastly, the length of a match was reduced to seventy minutes.
In 1971 a women's league was formed, with many other leagues established during the following years.[6] On September 8, 1974, the first women's champion in football was awarded to TuS Wörrstadt.[7]
The first women's DFB Cup was held in 1981 with SSG 09 Bergisch Gladbach defeating TuS Wörrstadt 5–0 in the final match in front of 35,000 spectators.
The women's national team (coached by Gero Bisanz) played its first game (as West Germany) on November 10, 1982, against Switzerland. Germany won the match 5–1. Two players who scored in the game would eventually become coaches for the national team.
In 1989 West Germany hosted the 1989 European Competition for Women's Football. The German team beat the Italian team on a penalty shoot-off.[6] This was the first women's football game broadcast live in Germany. On July 2, 1989, the German team beat the favored Norwegian team 4–1 in front of 23,000 spectators. This was an attendance record for a German women's team that would last until May 24, 2008, when 27,460 spectators watched 1. FFC Frankfurt defeat Umeå IK 3–2 in the UEFA Women's Cup.
National competition
[edit]As a result of the national team's success in the 1989 European Competition, in 1990 the DFB founded the first women's Bundesliga with twenty teams divided into two groups, a Northern Conference and a Southern Conference.[8] The Bundesliga was reduced to a single league of twelve teams in 1997. However, with the growing strength of Regionalliga compared to the Bundesliga, the DFB founded Second Bundesliga in 2004. The Second Bundesliga contained twenty-four teams divided into two groups.[9]
|
Level |
League(s)/Division(s) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
I |
Frauen-Bundesliga | ||||||||||
|
II |
2. Frauen-Bundesliga | ||||||||||
|
III |
Regionalliga Nord |
Regionalliga Nordost |
Regionalliga West |
Regionalliga Südwest |
Regionalliga Süd | ||||||
|
IV |
Niedersachsenliga Ost |
Landesliga Sachsen |
Verbandsliga Mittelrhein |
Verbandsliga Rheinland |
Bayernliga | ||||||
|
V |
Landesliga Niedersachsen |
Landesklasse Sachsen |
Landesliga Mittelrhein |
Bezirksliga Rheinland |
Landesliga Bayern | ||||||
|
VI |
Bezirksliga Niedersachsen |
Kreisoberliga Sachsen |
Bezirksliga Mittelrhein |
Kreisklasse Rheinland |
Bezirksoberliga Bayern | ||||||
|
VII |
Kreisliga Niedersachsen |
Kreisliga Sachsen |
Kreisliga Mittelrhein |
Bezirksklasse Saarland |
Bezirksliga Bayern | ||||||
|
VIII |
1. Kreisklasse Niedersachsen |
1. Kreisklasse Sachsen |
Kreisliga B Westfalen |
Kreisliga Bayern | |||||||
|
IX |
2. Kreisklasse Niedersachsen |
2. Kreisklasse Sachsen |
Kreisklasse Bayern | ||||||||
|
X |
A-Klasse Bayern | ||||||||||
Source:"German football leagues". Fussball.de. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
- All leagues on same level run parallel.
National team
[edit]The Germany women's national football team, organised by the DFB, are the only women's team ever to have successfully defended the FIFA Women's World Cup, winning in 2003 under coach Tina Theune-Meyer and 2007 under Silvia Neid.[10][11] They also won eight UEFA Women's Championships (1989, 1991,[12] 1995,[12] 1997,[12] 2001,[12] 2005,[13] 2009, 2013).[14]
Women's Honours
[edit]Major competitions
[edit]- Champions (8): 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013
- Runners-up (1): 2022
- Fourth place (1): 1993
| Overview | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | 4th place |
| FIFA Women's World Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| UEFA Women's Championship | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Summer Olympic Games | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 11 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "The World from Berlin: 'Women's Football Doesn't Need Hyperbole' - SPIEGEL ONLINE". Spiegel.de. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ "When Saturday Comes - The non-professionals". Wsc.co.uk. 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
- ^ "Competition and Player Development : A comparison between South America and Germany" (PDF). Cies.ch. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ^ "DFB: 50 Jahre nach Ende des Verbots des Frauenfußballs". SPORT1.
- ^ "Celebrating 50 years of women's football in Germany". www.fifa.com.
- ^ a b "Frauenfußball boomt - Bis ganz nach oben ist es aber noch ein weiter Weg". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Bosley, Catherine (2007-10-16). "Women's football has come a long way in Germany | Reuters". Uk.reuters.com. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ "World Cup: German pro league brings success". ESPN.com. 18 June 2011.
- ^ "Trends - Panorama - Goethe-Institut". Goethe.de. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ JERE LONGMANPublished: October 13, 2003 (2003-10-13). "SOCCER; Golden Goal Proves Magical as Germany Captures Women's World Cup - New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Germany Women 2-0 Brazil Women". September 30, 2007 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ a b c d "Deutschland: Die EURO-Bilanz". UEFA.com. July 31, 2022.
- ^ "BBC SPORT | Football | Women | Germany Women 3-1 Norway Women". BBC News. 2005-06-19. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ Ashenden, Mark (2009-09-10). "BBC SPORT | Football | Women | England 2-6 Germany". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
| League competitions | |
|---|---|
| Cup competitions | |
| National teams | |
| Lists | |
| East Germany | |
