Soccer scoreboards news: women’s soccer has always been overshadowed by men’s soccer, even though its popularity has grown steadily towards the end of the 20th century. However, women’s teams are determined to keep the trend going, and with the way things are currently moving it is not ruled out that someday soccer will come on par with sports like tennis, volleyball, and handball in terms of female popularity.
Before we can analyze what will happen in the future of women’s soccer, let’s look at its past, since the history of women’s soccer is quite extensive. The first written document on the topic of soccer was discovered in a Chinese war manual that dates back to 300 BC. This document familiarized men with this ancient version of soccer, which consisted of kicking a ball into a hole in a piece of cloth, which was tied between two poles. The ball was made of stuffed leather or pig bladders.
There is no solid proof that women played soccer too, but there is a clear reference present, which is often used to signify the beginning of women’s soccer history. This reference depicts two female figures that are playing with what looks like a leather ball. It is believed to have been created around 200 CE in a Han Dynasty fresco.
In the Middle Ages there are fewer references about women playing soccer compared with their male counterparts, but a few famous examples do exist in women’s soccer history. 12th century French women have been reported to play soccer side by side with their husbands. Moreover, amongst Scottish women there was an annual competition around Mid-Lothian, Scotland.
One of the biggest problems for women when it came to playing soccer was that this sport was quite violent, especially when a clear set of rules did not yet exist. Even today, with fair-play agreements and various rulings, soccer still has a large dose of violence and brutality. This made it quite hard for women to get involved in the sport, as their men would want to “protect” them and were often against the idea.
In 1863 this all changed, because the English Football Association created standardized rules, which prohibited brutality and violence in the game. This made it a lot easier for women to get into the sport. There was one women’s match, which drew 53,000 fans. This ended up hurting the egos of the English Football Association, which was driven primarily by men. In response, they banned women’s soccer from their pitches. Only in 1971 did they lift the ban and once again women could play soccer on the same pitches with men.
In the present day the soccer teams with women tend to professionalize and this development can be compared to English men’s soccer teams in the late 19th century. Because of this, many people quickly came to the conclusion that women’s soccer is behind men’s soccer by at least one century. However, in the women’s World Cups held recently, the soccer scoreboards showed some great results from teams from all over the world, and a lot of skilled players were on show, which attracted a respectable amount of spectators.
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