This volume draws upon social science and historical approaches to provide insights into the world of womens football and female fans. It gives an in-depth analysis of the development of the womens game in different European countries and examines the experiences of female fans. An overview about womens 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 sportssociology, sport sciences, gender studies, leisure studies, womens studies as well as fandom and cultural studies.
Gertrud Pfister is Professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She is the author and editor of 17 books and more than 250 articles. Her main research interest is in gender and sport.
Stacey Pope is Associate Professor at Durham University, UK. Her research interests include gender and sport, sports fandom and the sociology of football and rugby union.
1. Introduction; Stacey Pope and Gertrud Pfister .- Section 1: Womens Football and Female Players .- 2. Its Still a Mans Game? The Experiences of Top-Level European Women Footballers; Sheila Scraton, Kari Fasting, Gertrud Pfister and Ana Bunuel .- 3. Women, Football and European Integration: Aims, Questions, Methodological and Theoretical Approaches; Gertrud Pfister .- 4. The Beginnings of Womens Football in South-Western Germany: From a Spectacle to a Sport Event; Markwart Herzog .- 5. Womens Football Leagues in Europe Organizational and Economic Perspectives; Marie-Luise Klein .- 6. Outsiders on the Inside: Integrating Womens and Mens Football Clubs in England; Jo Welford .- 7. Who Could Name an England Womens Footballer?: Female Fans of Mens Football and their Views of Womens Football in England; Stacey Pope .- Section 2: Female Football Fans and their Experiences .- 8. A Socio-Historical Account of Female Experiences of Footballs Golden Age in England; Stacey Popeand John Williams .- 9. Is there a Life beyond Football? How Female Fans Integrate Football into their Everyday Lives; Verena Lenneis, Gertrud Pfister and Svenja-Maria Mintert .- 10. One is not Born, but Rather Becomes, a Fan: The Socialization of Female Football Fans A Case Study in Denmark; Gertrud Pfister, Svenja-Maria Mintert and Verena Lenneis .- 11. Womens Football Supporter Culture in Sweden; Aage Radmann and Susanna Hedenborg .- 12. Challenging or Accommodating the Football System? A Case Study of Female Football Supporter Communities in Spain; Ramón Llopis-Goig and Helena Flores .- 13. Gender, Play and Identity: A Longitudinal Study of Structure and Agency in Female Football Fandom; Cornel Sandvoss and Emily Ball.
