There weren’t always tens of thousands of fans in major stadiums and wide interest in the women’s soccer World Cup.
Dave Dew of Victoria, Canadian team assistant coach at the second women’s World Cup in 1995 in Sweden, recalled the humble early years of the event.
“We had 322 fans for our first group game against England and 112 fans for our second game against Nigeria,” said Dew.
“It was the World Cup but it felt no different than playing Island league games at Beckwith Park or Topaz Park. I thought they were going to pass the hat around to take a collection to raise some money.”
Things picked up, but not much, for the final group game.
“Our third game was against Norway, and because it was a then-powerhouse team from a neighbouring country, about 2,000 fans came out for that game and we thought it was a big deal,” said Dew.
At least there was an official World Cup for women since 1991. That’s not something current University of Victoria Vikes head coach Tracy David got to play in prior to that, during her groundbreaking career with the Canadian national team.
It was difficult to imagine back then that 75,784 fans would be on hand at Stadium Australia in Sydney for the opening game of the 2023 World Cup on Thursday between the co-host nation and Ireland.
“We didn’t realize how quickly it would change,” said Dew.
“The turning point came just four years later in the 1999 World Cup in the U.S.”
It didn’t hurt that the U.S. made that final and drew 90,185 fans to the Rose Bowl. Or that Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey after scoring the winning penalty, with her sports bra becoming an iconic sporting symbol.
The future was set and sa国际传媒 would play a role in it. Although its success in the World Cup has been limited, sa国际传媒 has won three Olympic medals in women’s soccer, including gold at Tokyo 2020. Dew and assistant coach Steve Simonson, also of Victoria, brought along the likes of Olympic Games multi-medallists Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt, Erin McLeod and Desiree Scott as 16-and-17-year-olds with the Whitecaps W League team and the Canadian U-17 program of the 2000s.
“Women’s soccer has come a long way since 1995,” said Dew.
With strides still to be made. Although the staging of the 2023 World Cup is impressive, many of the games so far have not sold-out, undercutting arguments that it should command the same interest and financial clout of the men’s World Cup.
“Right now, that’s not the case,” admitted Dew.
“But the crowds will grow bigger for games at the end of the tournament. Everybody wants it today. But we’ve got to be patient. It’s not going to happen overnight for the women’s game, where FIFA has said the average salary worldwide is $14,000 per season. It’s unfortunate but that’s the reality.”
Women’s soccer has made booming strides. There is clearly, however, work still to do. Constantly comparing it with the popularity of the men’s game may not be helpful. The women’s game will have its own path and destiny. It has forged that for itself since those sparse crowds of 1995.
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