Women's football in Germany
Frankfurt playing Potsdam in the women's Bundesliga
CountryGermany
Governing bodyDeutscher 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]

History

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

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
12 clubs

II

2. Frauen-Bundesliga
14 clubs

III

Regionalliga Nord
14 clubs

Regionalliga Nordost
12 clubs

Regionalliga West
14 clubs

Regionalliga Südwest
14 clubs

Regionalliga Süd
14 clubs

IV

Niedersachsenliga Ost
Niedersachsenliga West
Verbandsliga Bremen
Verbandsliga Hamburg
Schleswig-Holstein-Liga

Landesliga Sachsen
Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt
Verbandsliga Berlin
Verbandsliga Brandenburg
Verbandsliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Verbandsliga Thüringen

Verbandsliga Mittelrhein
Verbandsliga Niederrhein
Verbandsliga Westfalen

Verbandsliga Rheinland
Verbandsliga Saarland
Verbandsliga Südwest

Bayernliga
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
Oberliga Hessen

V

Landesliga Niedersachsen
Landesliga Bremen
Landesliga Hamburg
Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein

Landesklasse Sachsen
Landesklasse Thüringen
Landesliga Berlin
Landesliga Brandenburg
Kreisoberliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Regionalklasse Sachsen-Anhalt

Landesliga Mittelrhein
Landesliga Niederrhein
Landesliga Westfalen

Bezirksliga Rheinland
Landesliga Saarland
Landesliga Südwest

Landesliga Bayern
Verbandsliga Baden
Verbandsliga Südbaden
Verbandsliga Hessen
Verbandsliga Württemberg

VI

Bezirksliga Niedersachsen
Bezirksliga Bremen
Bezirksliga Hamburg
Kreisliga Schleswig-Holstein

Kreisoberliga Sachsen
Kreisoberliga Thüringen
Bezirksliga Berlin
Kreisliga Brandenburg
Kreisliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Kreisliga Sachsen-Anhalt

Bezirksliga Mittelrhein
Bezirksliga Niederrhein
Bezirksliga Westfalen

Kreisklasse Rheinland
Bezirksliga Saarland
Bezirksliga Südwest

Bezirksoberliga Bayern
Landesliga Baden
Bezirksliga Südbaden
Gruppenliga Hessen
Landesliga Württemberg

VII

Kreisliga Niedersachsen
Stadtliga Bremen
Kreisliga Hamburg
Kreisklasse A Schleswig-Holstein

Kreisliga Sachsen
Kreisliga Thüringen
1. Kreisklasse Brandenburg
1. Kreisklasse Sachsen-Anhalt

Kreisliga Mittelrhein
Kreisliga Niederrhein
Kreisliga A Westfalen

Bezirksklasse Saarland

Bezirksliga Bayern
Kreisliga Baden
1. Kreisliga Südbaden
Kreisoberliga Hessen
Regionenliga Württemberg

VIII

1. Kreisklasse Niedersachsen

1. Kreisklasse Sachsen

Kreisliga B Westfalen

Kreisliga Bayern
2. Kreisliga Südbaden
Kreisliga A Hessen
Bezirksliga Württemberg

IX

2. Kreisklasse Niedersachsen

2. Kreisklasse Sachsen

Kreisklasse Bayern
Kreisliga B Hessen
Kreisliga Württemberg

X

A-Klasse Bayern

Source:"German football leagues". Fussball.de. Retrieved 2008-02-07.

  • All leagues on same level run parallel.

National team

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

Major competitions

FIFA Women's World Cup

UEFA Women's Championship

Summer Olympic Games

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

References

  1. ↑ "The World from Berlin: 'Women's Football Doesn't Need Hyperbole' - SPIEGEL ONLINE". Spiegel.de. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  2. ↑ "When Saturday Comes - The non-professionals". Wsc.co.uk. 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  3. ↑ "Competition and Player Development : A comparison between South America and Germany" (PDF). Cies.ch. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "DFB: 50 Jahre nach Ende des Verbots des Frauenfußballs". SPORT1.
  5. ↑ "Celebrating 50 years of women's football in Germany". www.fifa.com.
  6. 1 2 "Frauenfußball boomt - Bis ganz nach oben ist es aber noch ein weiter Weg". Sports Illustrated.
  7. ↑ Bosley, Catherine (2007-10-16). "Women's football has come a long way in Germany | Reuters". Uk.reuters.com. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  8. ↑ "World Cup: German pro league brings success". ESPN.com. 18 June 2011.
  9. ↑ "Trends - Panorama - Goethe-Institut". Goethe.de. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  10. ↑ 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)
  11. ↑ "Germany Women 2-0 Brazil Women". September 30, 2007 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Deutschland: Die EURO-Bilanz". UEFA.com. July 31, 2022.
  13. ↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | Women | Germany Women 3-1 Norway Women". BBC News. 2005-06-19. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  14. ↑ Ashenden, Mark (2009-09-10). "BBC SPORT | Football | Women | England 2-6 Germany". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
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