Can anyone give me a quick overview of women's pro soccer in Europe? Leagues, teams, etc. Thanks. What about the possibility of the US and Canada sharing a women's pro league -- maybe add Mexico and have a North American Women's Super League. That may be a little too ambitious, but a regionalized league (Eastern US seaboard plus a few teams from Ontario/Quebec) may work.
"Can anyone give me a quick overview of women's pro soccer in Europe? Leagues, teams, etc. Thanks. What about the possibility of the US and Canada sharing a women's pro league -- maybe add Mexico and have a North American Women's Super League. That may be a little too ambitious, but a regionalized league (Eastern US seaboard plus a few teams from Ontario/Quebec) may work" First of all, it wouldn't work nationally for Canada and the US. Distances are too great and you would have to have both coasts for it to work. Regionally, sure. A Northwest(or just West Coast) and a Northeast league by themselves. That could work. No Mexico. Don't have a league worth talking about. Yes, Ontario/Quebec and Boston, New York and Philly, etc league could work. Ignoring the W-league for now. There are a good number of leagues in Europe. Every country of a good size has one and even smaller ones like Slovenia and Iceland have one. There is a Champions league type of event for the women. It's called the UEFA Women's Cup. It is dominated by the Scandinavian and German teams. Well, one German team. FFC Franfurt which gave to the WUSA Steffi Jones, Birgit Prinz and others. They won the 1st Cup but lost the second one which was won by UMEA who count Hanna Ljungberg and Malin Mostrom among their players. The best league overall is the German Bundesliga with the Swedish Damallsvenskan and Norwegian Toppserien the two other standout leagues in Europe. England has a solid legue with a good number of the teams being adjuncts of a famous men's side(Okay, not the Rovers but they may be promoted this year). France also has an up and coming league as well. Denmark also has 2 or 3 solid teams too. But in Norway and Sweden it's mixed between adjuncts of men's sides or separate entities.
What's the story with Djurgarden/Alvsjo? I know of Djurgarden on the men's side, but did they cooperate with another men's side (Alvsjo) to create a women's side? Or does Alvsjo rever to something else?
Not sure. Someone else can tell you. There is an Alvsjo in Div III(which is actually the 4th division). But the women's teams did merge.
Ragnhild Gulbrandsen was quoted right after the WUSA suspended operations that she would like to have Kristine Lilly and Kate Sobrero play with her in Trondheim, Norway for her club team Ørn. If they do decide to play in Northern Norway they will have to take a huge pay cut over what they made playing for the Boston Breakers.
The Top Leagues Are in Northern Europe I don't think any one league is clearly the best, but the Frauen Bundesliga, the Swedish Damallsvenskan, and the Norwegian Toppserien are all very good leagues. Over the past four years the Norwegian Toppserien has probably been the most competitive league and has actually provided the WUSA with the most players (9). The German club FFC Frankfurt and the Swedish club Umeå IK have won the first two UEFA Club Championships for women and as was pointed out in a previous post, many of the Frankfurt and Umeå players will be playing in the WC final this Sunday. While Germany and Sweden have had the best individual clubs, in Norway there are three very good clubs that challenge for the league title each year and several other good clubs with one or more National Team players that can compete with the top three. In Norway, Trondheims-Ørn is on top of the table this season, but finished third last season behind league champions Kolbotn and second place finisher Asker. During the previous seven seasons Trondheims-Ørn, Asker, and Kolbotn have won all of the league championships and none of these clubs have finished lower than fourth place. Unni Lehn (Carolina) and Ragnhild Gulbrandsen (Boston) will be returning to Trondheim while Hege Riise (Carolina) will likely return to Asker (Linda Ørmen already returned to Asker this season on loan from the New York Power). There has been some recent discussion in the Norwegian media that one of their top National Team players, Solveig Gulbrandsen, will be leaving Kolbotn after this season to play abroad. The Carolina Courage had the International Discovery Player rights to Solveig and she was very interested in playing in the WUSA, but now it looks like Solveig might play next year in Sweden.
The main problem for leagues that are run "European style" is, as we all know, that they function entirely different than American sports leagues. Therefore it is even more difficult for European clubs to generate adequate revenue in order to pay professionals. The soccer/football market is already more than milked in Europe, so that the female part of it will always have a hard time (at least on the club level) - without private sponsorship on an individual (NOT league) level, many clubs could not survive. In Frankfurts case, it's a local energy company that pays the bills. -> I don't see one "leading" big league for women in Europe emerging - if it happens, I wouldn't bet money on the leagues long-term success. It's somehow sad, but there is a lot of other sports with the same fate...
My bet: none would given that European clubs don't pay that well. The top USWNT players will be in residency camp and will be paid well by US Soccer so they don't need to go to Europe. The ones outside the top tier have plenty of opportunities as coaches in the US, especially in the college system.
Re: Re: if WUSA stays dead, which USWNTers will play in europe? The ones not in residency camp with the US will have NO opportunities to coach at the college level until Fall 2004, and even then they will be working for peanuts, or graduate degrees. The W-League, WPSL and Europe are their only real playing options, and I think more than a few young players will take this route. Boxx played overseas prior to the WUSA as did MacMillan and Milbrett, before they were established National Teamers. Its not about the money with those types. Its about playing at a high enough level to get back into the WNT player pool.
I might lack imagination, but the only problem I can see is for the european leagues is that their markets are so much smaller than the north american. And since the US market obviously couldn't finance a professional league like WUSA there is little chance any european country can do it the next several seasons. The up-side of the european model is that you don't need professional leagues to develop top quality. The vast majority of the swedish and german national team players are semi-professionals, playing in leagues with both semi-pros and amateurs. In the swedish national team all players except Hanna Ljungberg have part-time day-jobs, working 30-70 % of full-time. In Sweden the game has grown substantially over the last 10 years. Crowds are more than 3 times bigger and growing. The biggest teams will in a few years have the financial strength of men's 1st division (=2nd level) teams, which means daily day-time training and all team-members on at least part-time employment. It's still a far cry from the conditions in WUSA, but if that's not a choice any longer I think some players will choose european leagues to develop their play. An idea seriously discussed now is that the swedish FA and Olympic committee should join to make it possible for all national team players to play football as full-time professionals. That would indirectly give at least Umea and Malmö (6 and 7 players respectively on the WWC squad) the resources to employ more full- or part-time professionals.
A problem with the US is that the franchises are so spread out and travel expenses are a major concern. Flying from San Diego to Boston is not cheap. In Europe, everything is relatively close together -- so travel costs are reduced; plus it allows fans to travel to away matches stimulating rivalries, etc. -- that is virtually impossible here. Also, here in the US/Canada there is a tremendous amount of competition for the sports dollar -- major and minor league sports leagues are everywhere. So, even though our markets may be bigger there are lots of choices for people on a Saturday afternoon -- soccer is generally a low priority. MLS and WUSA are competing for a relatively small pool of people who like soccer compared to Europe where soccer is a part of the culture. I think there is a lot more potential for the growth of a women's league in Europe than here in the US.
This just in: Julie Foudy has decided to play in the new Afghan Breeder-League. The Breeder-League is top-level female soccer in Afghanistan. Foudy will assume a defensive role for the Baghram Barefeet as the debut season begins in February. Said Foudy "I've tried practicing in a burkha already and it's not bad. I hope to provide a major influence in the advancement of Afghan women's sports much in the same manner as I have here in the US. I don't know the status of their Title IX program but I'm sure I can make suggestions to improve it." Bigsoccer contacted Title IX expert Tom Flannigan. Flannigan said "I think Foudy will find that Title IX has pretty much killed off the hopes of any man playing soccer or wrestling in Afghanistan. It's really a shame." Flanigan continued, "I think Foudy will find out that, in Afghanistan, 'getting stoned' takes on a whole new meaning."
Two WUSA Players Want to Play for Asker In an article posted yesterday at the Norwegian website "toppserien.com" the GM of the Norwegian club Asker, John Hårstad-Evjen, said that during the World Cup he had discussions with two WUSA players about playing for Asker. Hårstad-Evjen would not reveal the players names, but said that one of the two players was a former Carolina Courage teammate of Unni Lehn and Hege Riise. WUSA-spillere vil til Asker
Several USWNT Players Want to Play in Norway In an article just posted at the Norwegian website "toppserien.com" it was mentioned that several players from the USWNT (including at least one of the star players) might be playing in Scandinavia next season. It would be "veldig kult" if Bauser or someone else more fluent in Norwegian than I am could post a translation or English summary of this article: USA-stars want to "Play" in Norway
Re: Several USWNT Players Want to Play in Norway My norwegian is less than perfect and so is my english, but I'll give it a try. A source with contacts close to the american national team claims that three players from the americam bronze team are considering playing in Norway. There is a possibility that one or several american WWC players will transfer to Norway this winter. Toppserien.com has been talking to an anonymous source in the norwegian women's football environment that says norwegian clubs has to act to get these players. - I know both the boyfriend and a former coach to one of the most well-konow players in USA. They've talked to me about the possibilities to play in Norway, says the source. The person continues to state that the interest from player on the US bronze team and two of her team-mates is serious, but that she (he?) fears they might all end up in Sweden. - I know that the top clubs in Sweden has been very active trying to secure some of the american stars for their team. Sweden is attractive because of better pay and bigger crowds. The norwegian WWC performance is also working against Norway. And thank's nordby1 for pointing this out. Toppserien.com seems to be a virtual goldmine when it comes to women's footboll gossip.
Re: Re: if WUSA stays dead, which USWNTers will play in europe? how long is the residency camp normaly ? and how much a player makes in Europe ?