game from grounds used by its member clubs. The FA's ban was rescinded in December 1969 with UEFA voting to officially recognise women's football in 1971.[75] The FIFA Women's World Cup was inaugurated in 1991 and has been held every four years since.[77] Variants and casual play

Main article: Women's association football
Two players trying to gain control of the ball

Women have been playing association football since the first recorded women's game in 1895 in North London. It has traditionally been associated with charity games and physical exercise, particularly in the United Kingdom.[75] This perception began to change in the 1970s with the breakthrough of organised women's association football. Association football is the most prominent team sport for women in several countries, and one of the few women's team sports with professional leagues.

The growth in women's football has seen major competitions being launched at both national and international level mirroring the male competitions. Women's football faced many struggles throughout its fight for right. It had a "golden age" in the United Kingdom in the early 1920s when crowds reached 50,000 at some matches;[76] this was stopped on 5 December 1921 when England's Football Association voted to ban the game from grounds used by its member clubs. The FA's ban was rescinded in December 1969 with UEFA voting to officially recognise women's football in 1971.[75] The FIFA Women's World Cup was inaugurated in 1991 and has been held every four years since.[77]
Variants and casual play
See also: Variants of association football and Street football

Variants of football have been codified for reduced-sized teams (i.e. Five-a-side football) play in non-field environments (i.e. Beach soccer, Indoor soccer, and Futsal) and for teams with disabilities (i.e. Paralympic association football).

One of the attractions of association football is that a casual game can be played with only minimal equipment – a basic game can be played on almost any open area of reasonable size with just a ball and items to mark the positions of two sets of goalposts. Such games can often have team sizes that vary considerably from 11-a-side, use a limited and/or modified subset of the official rules, and are likely to be self-officiated by the players.
See also

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