"Women's football is enjoying a boom all over the world. Player numbers are soaring in Germany, home of the reigning world champions, with women and girls now accounting for some 860,000 of the 6.27 million German Football Association (DFB) members.

Women's football is also one of the fastest growing sports in Britain. There has been a parallel growth in various aspects of the game, including supporting, coaching, development, organising, officiating, fundraising, and media representation. Women's football also attracts a growing body of scholars from across various disciplines."

What do you think about the women's form of the game?

in canada, women's footy being so much more successful than men's footy, just goes to show you how things are here.

I love watching women play footie for all the wrong reasons.. so I shall try to respond without offending any of our beautiful female members.

I enjoy watching is because they play so hard and get so dir.. damn.. ok they play so hard and they are obviously not equipped with the insane amounts of testastorone that men have, so yes it is slower, and yes they arent as flashy.. but it's kind of like comparing the NFL and the NCAA when it come to American Football, I like watching NCAA A. Football better sometimes just because they try so much harder.

See I managed to say a whole paragraph worth of stuff without mentioning the word nipple, or hard, or even ass. I am growing up .

Cheers.

Unfortunately that's the attitude that far too many fans of the men's game take upon the womens version, and the Head of FIFA Sepp Blatter is a prime example. President Blatter said the women's game needed different sponsors from men's soccer and could attract these clients with the use of "more feminine uniforms." This was met by dismay amongst female players and fans, just when women's football was starting a build a stronghold.

Women's football in my opinion is far more than just 'tits and ass', it's got all the skills and tactics of the men's game (albeit at a slightly slower pace) and has really attraction to the game itself. Yes, it may have the speed and power that make the me's game so attractive, but it has subtleties that make it appealing for any fan of the beautiful game. More emphasis is placed on skill for example, so there are few or no players that are picked solely on their physical attributes, unlike Titus Bramble, Martin Keown etc. in the men's game. This can provide for more fluent football and a more enjoyable game for neutral viewer.

I urge more people to watch a full 90 minutes of a high level women's international game. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you are viewing, if at first only for the girls in "Tighter shorts, for example" as Sepp Blatter once said.

Here in the US I'm sorry to admit but it seems as if women football is more popular than men's at times. Especially on a high school level, soccer is totally accepted as a girl's sport, but looked down upon at times for men. I enjoy watching women's soccer, but I have to admit in my eyes it is nowhere near as exciting and thrilling as men. Not because men's football is faster, stronger, and often has more flair, but beause when I do play with women I find it so easy. This might offend women, and I'm sorry.

In basic, cruel, and mean words, I find women's football respectable, but inferior to mens by a lot.

in australia.....umm well i dont know any Chick soccer players so i guess that tells you it aint big in Aus.

women's football isn't as popular over here as the men's and hardly any matches are shown on tv, but i remember watching the euro 2005 final between germany and norway and was amazed by the abundance and quality of skills.flair isn't something that is usually associated with the german and norwegian men's football teams so it was a pleasant surprise that their female counterparts boasted of that.my views on women's football played on the international level, based on that match, would be that it's equally engrossing as the men's, except that dirty tackles aren't as common and the game is a little slow paced.

I think women's football is going in the US. The US doesn't have WUSA anymore so most of our NT players play in the FA or other leagues. I think WUSA should come back and maybe more women would be able to atually play, because they can't go to other leagues and play. If WUSA would come back it would diffently be more popular than its was before, because more women are now playing soccer. The USWNT is so great, even without Hamm, Chastian, Foudy, and all of our other world cup heros. Ya'll might see me out there on tha NT team in about 8-9 years yea right lol

I prefer the women's game to the mens. The women aren't making millions of dollars a year playing in professional leagues all over the world; only a select few make enough money on sponsorships and advertisements to support themselves, so the female players HEART and love of the game is so much more apparent than in the mens game. These women aren't playing for money;they're playing for the love of our beautiful game, and it shows in their style of play. When a player gets fouled in a men's game, most often the player will writhe on the ground, roll onto their backs and hold their shin or ankle or something(it seems like this is the most common move in soccer...roll on back, grab ankle area, yell!...), and make a huge scene over a little foul. Women's games are so refreshing because the female players get knocked around, fouled, knocked, pushed and they keep playing. If they are knocked down they get right back up and go at it again! The women's game needs come changes, to be sure, but they're coming. The game is getting more technical and creative with players like Aly Wagner,Marta(heck, bunches of the Brasilian women) and other young talent coming up. I would like to see a change from the passing, on the ground play that is so prevalent in the women's game,and for the game to begin incorporating the aerial dimension present in the mens game. Our women's game has made enormous strides, but it's time we gain more respect and appeal to more people than just the "pigtailed hooligans". The womens game needs a nike ad proclaiming its new power "Don't Tread on us!" oh, and NO MORE SKIMPY UNIFORM COMMENTS FROM THE DIRECTOR OF FIFA FOR GOSH SAKES!

VERY well said

Excellent first post saprissista, I'm very impressed by your comments. Although a huge fan of the men's game, I do get frustrated by it and the petty attitudes of the players in particular. At times I have been known to turn a match off because of constant spats, arguments, abuse of officals and particularly time wasting. As such, the women's game is refreshingly laid back and enjoyable. They seem to play for the enjoyment of it rather than the big bucks of the men's game and this rubs off on the viewer who can sit back and really enjoy the game rather than getting frustrated at their immature on field antics.

Obviously there are many technical differences between the male and female version of the game, but the women are catching the men up in terms of quality and attendances are rising as a result. I hope this trend continues and with the increased media attention it is receiving (although still not enough) and young players coming through, I'm sure that this trend will continue.

I hope you will come back to the forum and argue further, your views are very interesting and refreshing to see!

Thanks to everyone for their nice comments! This is a great thread. Threads like these are doing their part to advance the women's game, and are doing so in a very informative and thoughtful way! Women's football, (in the U.S.A) has been very focused on bringing in big crowds by playing big name stars (Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and the rest of the "91er's") and not so focused on quality of play. I believe that if we had put out the best team on the pitch, and not the team that brought in the most money, we would have won the last World Cup. Bold statement, i know, but i truly believe it. The "91er's" were the big moneymakers, but they couldn't run with the younger, quicker, and faster players of the opposing teams anymore. Take the Olympic final's against Brasil for example; The US almost lost that game and the fact that Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain and those guys couldn't run with the young Brasilian squad had a lot to do with it. Greg Ryan (the new Natl. team coach) seems to be headed in the right direction;Brandi Chastain hasn't been called up for National team duty since he's been on board.We'll see how it goes. I'm not demeaning the heroes of American women's soccer; they are my idols, and American womens football couldn't have grown the way it has without them, but it's time to let the new, youger players take their place on the pitch. If you thought our legends were great, wait till you see their successors! Germany won't beat us next time! so, i think interst apparent in these forums, and new, young, skilled players are making womens football much more popular than it already is.

Good to see you back saprissista

I was just wondering your views on why the USA wouldn't have played their best side during the last World Cup. Surely by playing their 1st choice XI and possibly going on to win the World Cup they would have attracted higher crowds and kept the standard of play high. Why would they rather go down the route of playing big name stars and giving their shot at the World title little chance? Maybe they were over-confident and underestimated the skill levels of Germany, Sweden etc and thought they could win the tournament without playing their best side?

Due to their poor show at WC 1995, I see this as unlikely and would've wanted to show the form of 1991. Maybe being new to the sport, TEAM USA management thought that by sticking to the successful squad of 1991 they could improve the fortunes of their team and reproduce a World title in 1999.

Or was it a conscious decision from the National team management? Maybe they decided one more World Cup with "Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and the rest of the 91er's" would concrete footballs position within the hearts of budding players and make the game more attractive the new generation of female prospects? If the current crop of young players is as good as I'm led to believe, maybe this was a good decision from the National Team management.

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I'm trying my best to improve peoples knowledge and interest in the womens game. I someday hope to get a job improving the state of football within non-priority groups. In the UK, female football is one such area and I hope to help make it a far more popular game with the masses. Forums such as this will definately help to raise the game's profile on a global scale and i'm happy to help any way I can and learn along the way.

No offence, but when women's footie comes to basic technical ability, it reminds me of some 12-13 boys playing football. Whether if the ladies lack good coaching, or physical abilities, don't know. Watched the women's euro tournament last summer, and there where only a few players who looked like they had a natural touch to the ball. Lots of hilariously poor passes, sometimes VERY poor ball control, and shots.... i was like WTF who told you to shoot like that?!?! Many of these players have obviously practiced years and years, and still you can see little kids who equal their level.

Football is actually one of the few sports where people argue if men or women are "better" or "more exciting" or "which one should be watched". Well, in my personal opinion, i wouldn't pay for seeing women playing footie, as it just doesn't look any better than the team they have in that elemantry school down the street.

I want it more to television, It's awesome, it must have same TV time than mens football,

I don't think the fan base is quite there for it to deserve the same amount of coverage as the mens game (look at the traffic on SP for example), but I'd definately like to see more of it. The BBC's move to cover all Englands games at Euro 2005 and the final aswell, was a positive step in the UK. I'm not sure about the US scene, but it seems like Women's football is slowly getting more coverage around the world.

I will contact our own Richie, to see if he can capture the game between England and Holland this week.