Women's football in the Netherlands

Women's football in the Netherlands has traditionally had a low profile and female players had to play abroad.[1][2][3][4]

Women's football in the Netherlands
CountryNetherlands
Governing bodyKNVB
National team(s)Women's national team
National competitions
Club competitions
BeNe League
Eredivisie 2007 (ran until 2012)
2015 - present
Topklasse
Hoofdklasse
International competitions
Champions League
FIFA Women's World Cup (National Team)
European Championship(National Team)
Olympics(National Team)
Audience records
Single match28.182

History

Women first started trying playing football in the 1890s but were banned by the KNVB.[5] In 1896 Sparta Rotterdam tried to form a women's football team but were thwarted. In the 1950s the Dutch Ladies Football Association was formed in 1955 and even created a women's football league but was banned by the KNVB. Women's football was played regionally in the Netherlands until the 1970s when UEFA declared all UEFA members must invest in women's football.

National team
Main article: Netherlands women's national football team
Main article: Netherlands at the FIFA Women's World Cup
Main article: Netherlands at the UEFA Women's Championship


The Netherlands has not had a strong tradition in women's international football; they did not qualify for the UEFA Women's Championship until 2009, and did not qualify for their first Women's World Cup until 2015 (the latter occasion being the first Women's World Cup with 24 teams instead of 16).[6] In 2017 the national team won their first prize UEFA Women's Euro 2017.[7] 4 out of 5 Dutch television viewers watched the Netherlands win the championship.[8] 2 years later, in only their second World Cup, the Dutch made it all the way into the final which they lost to the US 0–2.

Present

In 2012, the KNVB and its Belgian counterpart, the KBVB/URBSFA, created a new top league for both countries, the BeNe League. From the Dutch perspective, the move was intended to improve the Netherlands women's national football team.[9][10] However, the two federations scrapped the BeNe League after the 2014–15 season, with the KNVB choosing to reactivate the women's Eredivisie with the same seven clubs that had formed the Dutch contingent in the final season of the joint league. The Eredivisie has since expanded to nine teams. UEFA Women's Euro 2017 was hosted in the Netherlands.[11]

See also

Football in the Netherlands

References
  1. "For Sky Blue's Dutch Defender, Pay and a Platform". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  2. "Women's Soccer in the United States and the Netherlands: Differences and Similarities in Regimes of Inequalities". ResearchGate. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  3. Nixon, Howard L. (30 November 2015). Sport in a Changing World. Routledge. ISBN 9781317251552. Retrieved 26 July 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. "AIPS Media". Aipsmedia.com.
  5. Parrish, Charles; Nauright, John (21 April 2014). Soccer around the World: A Cultural Guide to the World's Favorite Sport. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781610693035. Retrieved 26 July 2017 – via Google Books.
  6. Haisley, Billy. "Finally, A Netherlands Women's Team That Lives Up To The Name". Deadspin. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  7. "Netherlands Women 4-2 Denmark Women". August 6, 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  8. Ramesh, Priya (7 August 2017). "Holland victory a triumph for Dutch flair and Sarina Wiegman's tactical nous". Retrieved 8 August 2017 – via The Guardian.
  9. "Women's football about to break through". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2012-05-25. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  10. "Data analysis is really helping the Dutch national women's soccer team". Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  11. "Netherlands to host 2017 women's European Championships". 4 December 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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