Women’s football

Question 1

a struggle

Answer 1

word used to describe something that is difficult to do and might involve a lot of hard work or conflict.

have you been watching the World Cup? Cricket or football? Because they are both being played at the moment.

Women’s football has really been a struggle to play, to have any kind of agency and to be taken seriously as athletes. That can be seen throughout history. I think every moment that women’s football has had, you know there’s been a kind of, a backlash afterwards or a kind of an attempt to keep women back and to dampen enthusiasm for the sport.

Question 2

(to have) agency

Answer 2

being able to act independently and make your own choices.
To have agency means you have control over your own situation, you can make the decisions you want to make.

Women’s football has really been a struggle to play, to have any kind of agency and to be taken seriously as athletes.

Question 3

a backlash

Answer 3

a strong negative reaction to something.

I think every moment that women’s football has had, you know there’s been a kind of, a backlash afterwards or a kind of an attempt to keep women back and to dampen enthusiasm for the sport.

Question 4

to dampen enthusiasm (for something)

Answer 4

to make people less interested in something. to make it difficult

I think every moment that women’s football has had, you know there’s been a kind of, a backlash afterwards or a kind of an attempt to keep women back and to dampen enthusiasm for the sport.

So who tried to dampen enthusiasm and how did they do it? Well, during and after the First World War, women’s football became really popular with crowds of up to 50,000 watching games. It may have been popular with the crowds, but it wasn’t so popular with the men who ran the game, the English Football Association.

Question 5

to ban

Answer 5

to use rules to stop something from continuing to happen.
Banning something means using certain powers to stop something from happening.

The men’s football association were panicked by seeing women doing so well and they banned all women from playing football on association grounds and that lasted for about 50 years.

Question 6

(to make) a concerted effort (to do something)

Answer 6

to try really hard to do something.
making a concerted effort means trying really hard.

It was a very concerted effort to keep women’s football at amateur status and ensure that there weren’t crowds watching them play.
a backlash afterwards or a kind of an attempt to keep women back and to dampen enthusiasm for the sport.