With the World Cup set to kick off today, we thought we’d give you a little history about

With the World Cup set to kick off today, we thought we’d give you a little history about soccer. And we wouldn’t be HelloFlo if we didn’t share the important stuff, like when women started playing the sport. Much of this information can be found in greater detail at www.historyofsoccer.info. 1904 - FIFA, the governing body of soccer, is established. 1920 - "One of the popular records of the game comes from the Boxing day in 1920, at Goodison Park in Liverpool. A spectacular game took place on England’s biggest soccer ground where Kerr Ladies played with a Lancashire team called St. Helen Ladies in front of a crowd of 53,000 people. It is noted that more than ten thousand fans had to be locked out when the ground became fully occupied. The crowd size on that day was seen as a major threat at the headquarters of Football Association in London. In 1921, the influential central body of the game set a ban on women for playing soccer for an incredible period of 50 years. The repercussions could be seen immediately as this decision crippled women soccer players in a few countries. " Full article here. 1930 - First FIFA World Cup “The beginning of 20th century saw US women soccer gain high popularity and international acclaim. The sport made a late start-up in the US compared to Europe, which had women leagues way back in 1930s. Serious and organized form of soccer in the US started in 1970s, a trigger produced by Title IX Legislation of 1972 that made gender equality mandatory in education. The game widely spread during early 1980s through varsity college teams. However, it is interesting to note that the first national women’s league was established very recently in 1995. And even more amusing is the fact that the first professional women’s league took birth a few years back in 2001.” 1991 - First FIFA Women’s World Cup “The first women’s World Cup was held in China in 1991. The US won the championship the first time ever in the history of women soccer.” 1995 - First National Women’s League Is anyone else really surprised that the first national women’s league was established very recently in 1995? 2001 - First Professional Women’s League The first professional women’s league wasn’t created until 2001 (only about 13 years ago). Hopefully one day the Women’s World Cup will be just as gigantic worldwide as the men’s event. Only time will tell; the next FIFA Women’s World Cup is coming up in Canada in 2015! -- source link

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