Women's football in Spain

Women's football in Spain is not one of the traditional powers of women's football since the sport has a small following.[3] Although football in the most popular sport in Spain, Men's football usually gets the biggest following.[4][5] Currently there are two national competitions, the League and the Copa de la Reina (English: Queen's Cup), in the semi-professional club involved structure.

Women's football in Spain
Spanish team at 2018 qualifiers
CountrySpain
Governing bodyRoyal Spanish Football Federation
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)
Audience records
Single match60,739[1][2]

History
See also: Bans of women's association football

Women's football was recorded as being played as early as the 1910s.[6] During the 1920s, female footballers such as Ana Carmona Ruiz (who dressed up as a male) and Irene González played games for male teams. Between the 1930s and 1975, women were forbidden from playing football.[7] Despite this, in 1971, Victoria Hernández became the first female footballer to sign a "professional" contract. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RSFF) did not recognize women's football until 1980.[8] Women did not have a national league until 1988.[9] In 2019 the Spanish FA committed to spending $20 million in the area of women's football.[10]

National competition

The first teams and the first informal women's football competitions in Spain emerged in the 1970s, although they were not officially recognized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation until 1980, with the founding of the National Women's Football Committee.[11] The first official national competition was the Copa de la Reina, established in 1983.[12] The women's national league began to dispute the 1988-89 season.[13]

Primera División is the national competition for female football players in Spain.[14]

Below the Primera División, there is a second tier called Primera Federación, where its teams are divided into seven groups.[15] In 2020 Primera Federación teams became full time professionals.[16]

The lower tiers are administered by the regional federations.[15]

Level

League

Professional league

1

Primera División
(Liga F)
16 teams

↓↑ 2 teams

2

Primera Federación
16 teams

↓↑ 4 teams

3

Segunda Federación
32 teams divided into 2 groups

↓↑ 6 teams

4

Primera Nacional
6 groups, 14 teams each

5

Regional leagues

National team
Main article: Spain women's national football team

The Spain women's national football team has qualified three times to the FIFA Women's World Cup, and three times in the UEFA Women's Championship. The furthest the senior national team has reached at international competition is the semi-finals at UEFA Women's Euro 1997.[17][18] The women's national U-20 team were runner-ups at the 2018 U-20 World Cup. The U-19 national team won the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship in 2004, 2017, and 2018.[19] The national U-17 team also won the U-17 European Championship in 2010, 2011, 2015and 2018, as well as becoming the champion at the 2018 U-17 World Cup and finalists in the 2014 U-17 World Cup.[20]

See also

References
  1. Fitzpatrick, Richard. "Why Women's Football in Spain Is so Popular and Packing Out Stadiums". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  2. Gómez, Daniel (18 March 2019). "Women's soccer game in Spain smashes turnout world record". Elpais.com. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  3. Haisley, Billy (26 June 2015). "Spain's Women's Team Is A Catastrophe, And It Doesn't Need To Be". Deadspin.com. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  4. "Women's football finding its feet in Spain". FIFA. Archived from the original on 2013-07-14. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
  5. DOYLE, JOHN (12 June 2015). "Doyle: Respect Brazil, Spain and their fight for promotion of women's soccer". Theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  6. Giovio, Eleonora (30 May 2019). "Women's World Cup 2019 team guide No 7: Spain". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  7. O'Riordan, Joanne. "How a 17-year-old girl fought for women's football in Barcelona". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  8. "Serial Fútbol Femenino en MARCA.com | El origen clandestino de la selección". www.marca.com.
  9. "Los primeros pasos del futbol femenino en España | Cuadernos de Fútbol". www.cihefe.es.
  10. "Spanish FA to invest 20 million euros in women's football". Marca.com. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  11. Madu, Zito (May 23, 2019). "Spain and La Liga are showing the world how to support women's soccer". SBNation.com.
  12. Pardillo, Nerea; Fotografía, A. S. (June 11, 2022). "20 hitos del fútbol femenino español". Diario AS.
  13. "Spanish gov't to end 'injustice' in women's game". ESPN.com. March 12, 2021.
  14. Grez, Matias (July 11, 2022). "Women's Euro 2022: With two major injuries, can pre-tournament dark horse Spain still dazzle?". CNN.
  15. "La RFEF crea una nueva competición para potenciar el fútbol femenino, la Primera División B" [RFEF creates a new competition for developing the women's football, the Primera División B] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  16. "Women's soccer gains professional status in Spain". The Seattle Times. June 10, 2020.
  17. "Los grandes cambios del fútbol femenino a lo largo de los años". March 4, 2019.
  18. RIVAS, ALBERTO (June 20, 2022). "Cinco curiosidades que no sabías de la selección española en las Eurocopas". RTVE.es.
  19. Longman, Jeré (June 23, 2019). "For Spain, Investment Pays Off at the World Cup". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  20. "España, campeona del mundo sub-20 por primera vez en la historia". El Español. August 29, 2022.
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