Football has become America's true national pastime, but without a basic understanding of the game, it can be difficult to watch and enjoy. Football Is For Girls is a book for women that explains the game from the ground up. The game, its players, its concepts and its strategies are clearly explained in an easily digestible format. For anyone who has an interest in watching more of the game, but just can't seem to completely grasp what is going on and why, this book was written for you.

Can we truly call football England's 'national' game? How have we arrived at this point of such clear inequality between men's and women's football? Between 1921 and 1972, women were banned from playing in football League grounds in the UK. Yet in 1998 FIFA declared that "the future is feminine" and that football was the fastest growing sport for women globally. The result of several years of original research, the book traces the continuities in women's participation since the beginnings of the game, and highlights the significant moments that have influenced current practice. The text provides: *insight into the communities and individual experiences of players, fans, investors, administrators and coaches *examination of the attitudes and role of national and international associations *analysis of the development of the professional game *comparisons with women's football in mainland Europe, the USA and Africa. A Game for Rough Girls is the first text to properly theorize the development of the game. Examining recreational and elite levels, the author provides a thorough critique, placing women's experience in the context of broader cultural and sports studies debates on social change, gender, power and global economics.

IN THEIR DAY THEY WERE BIGGER THAN BECKHAM. THEY WERE THE WORKING CLASS FACTORY GIRLS WHO PLAYED IN FRONT OF VAST CROWDS THROUGHT BRITAIN AND BECAME CELEBRITIES ACROSS THE WORLD. THEY THREATENED THE ENTIRE MALE-DOMINATED BASTION OF 20TH CENTURY FOOTBALL. SO THE FA PLOTTED TO SHUT THEM DOWN.Boxing Day 1920, and 53,000 men, women and children pack inside Goodison Park. The extraordinary crowds have come to watch two rivals play a match for charity. But this is no ordinary charity fixture. Eleven of the players are international celebrities and their team is the biggest draw in British - and world - football. Yet they are all full-time factory workers - and they are women. They are the ladies of Dick Kerr electrical works. And the male football establishment is terrified by them.With the men away fighting from 1914-1918, most of the workers in the factories of northern England were women. And many factories had a ladies' football team. In December 1917, the team from Dick Kerr factory challenged the ladies of the nearby Arundel Coulthard Foundry to a charity match. It was the first of 828 games for Dick Kerr Ladies as over the decades they scored more than 3,500 goals and raised the equivalent of ?1million for an array of charities.By 1920, ladies' football was a major spectator sport. But away from the cheering terraces the bastions of professional men's football viewed the mass popularity of women's soccer with increasing alarm. On 5 December 1921 the Football Association met in London. After a brief debate behind closed doors it unanimously passed an urgent resolution: women's football was banned from all professional grounds.Dick Kerr Ladies did not give in, playing their matches on parkland with thousands of spectators turning up to watch. But constant pressure from the FA meant that one by one, teams began to fold. It would take until 1971 for the FA to lift its ban. Today, women's football has once again claimed a place in the global game. But it came too late for the pioneers of the sport: Preston Ladies - nee Dick Kerr Ladies - played their last match in 1969.Girls With Balls tells the extraordinary story of the time when women ruled the football world. With recollections from the last remaining member of the team from Dick Kerr's glory years and a treasure trove of contemporary photographs, this is the missing chapter in the history of football - its last great secret. It is a story of men with power, wealth and a fiefdom to protect. But above all, it is a story of girls with balls.

A critique of sexism in contemporary sport in which the author shows how it affects women and men outside the playing arena, examining how women are excluded from participating in sport on equal terms with men, and how all-male sporting environments foster misogyny and sexual violence.

This volume draws upon social science and historical approaches to provide insights into the world of women’s football and female fans. It gives an in-depth analysis of the development of the women’s game in different European countries and examines the experiences of female fans. An overview about women’s football in Europe shows the rise and development of the game and the increasing inclusion of girls and women in football and fan communities. To date, there has been a lack of research on female participation in football, but drawing on research studies from various European countries, the volume explores a range of issues, including how girls and women become football fans and players, how women combine football with their everyday lives, and how they may encounter stereotypes and barriers when they challenge male dominance by entering this traditionally male sport. This collection will be of interest to students and scholars in a range of fields, including sports sociology, sport sciences, gender studies, leisure studies, women’s studies as well as fandom and cultural studies.