The Cauldron The Women's Game

By Rebecca Calderon

The Women's Super League season starts next weekend, and all six opening fixtures will be shown on television! Why is that my opening salvo I hear you ask? Well, it’s pretty big news in a year that has seen women’s football, both in Gibraltar and elsewhere, turn many a corner and grab even more headlines.

I started 2025 by watching the Netflix documentary #SeAcabó: Diario de las campeonas (It's All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football). You may recall that on 20 August 2023 Spain won the Women's World Cup, and during the trophy presentation Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales kissed player Jenni Hermoso without her consent. The world was watching and the man denied it. Instead of stepping down gracefully, Rubiales and his RFEF cronies bullied Hermoso, her family, and other players. This maltreatment of female footballers was typical of the RFEF with incidents ranging from discrimination to lack of funding and poor coaching.

Sports federations and organisations worldwide called for his resignation, with some men’s national team players refusing to play for Spain until Rubiales stood down. FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against him and even the Spanish prime minister called for him to go. Eventually he resigned his positions as RFEF president and as vice-president of UEFA, and in February 2025 Rubiales was found guilty of sexual assault. The girls stood up to the male bullies and beat them.

I was alive in an era when women were BANNED from playing the beautiful game (oh, the irony!) Back in the 19th Century both men and women played competitive football and drew huge crowds but after World War I the English FA declared that "the game of football is quite unsuitable for females". The End.

Of course, women took no notice of that and kept the game alive through factory teams, charity matches, tours, and local leagues. It never disappeared — it just had to fight to survive outside the FA’s structures. The ban was lifted in 1971 by which time it had done severe damage which would take generations to heal. Did women play football in Gibraltar back in the twenties and was there a similar ban? I cannot find any information about it but women in Gibraltar were not granted the right to vote until 1959 which might be an indicator...

When Gibraltar became UEFA members in 2013 things did not magically change for women footballers like it did for the men. In 2023 our female international squad were looking forward to participating in the inaugural UEFA Women’s Nations League, but the Gibraltar Football Association pulled them out at the last minute stating they were “not ready”. The men’s team were “not ready” in 2014, yet they played. This discrimination was brought to the fore in local media and people were rightly upset. The GFA took notice and women’s football is now experiencing a positive overhaul which is something to celebrate. February 21, 2025, will forever go down in Gibraltar’s sporting history as the day our Women’s National Team played their first competitive international match against Moldova in Nisporeni; the result was a respectable 1-0 defeat.

The WSL in England has transformed from a pioneering but fragile initiative to one of the most competitive, well-supported, and professionally run leagues globally. With strong investment, growing fan engagement and media coverage the women’s game can no longer be ignored. Our league equivalent in Gibraltar has a long way to go. There are only four teams in the women’s league whereas the men have twelve and something needs to change. Gibraltar’s women’s teams are not currently eligible to enter UEFA competitions, but the men’s teams are and have been handsomely rewarded with huge financial payouts; almost a quarter of a million pounds for entering the Champions League. One would have expected that clubs who land those windfalls each season would share their wealth and set up a women’s team, but they don’t.

Participation for women in UEFA competitions is essential for the growth of the game and in 2025 the GFA launched the Player Ambassador Programme with one key goal: to elevate the women’s game by driving participation and improving visibility. It will also provide direct financial support for players and reduce the burden on clubs. Women aged 15 or over, regardless of nationality or background, are eligible to participate in Gibraltar’s domestic women’s league, so what are you all waiting for? Don’t want to play? No worries, the GFA also offer coaching and referee courses, of which I took advantage of in 2013. Back then trailblazer Leslie Jackson was the only female ref in Gibraltar, and she inspired me to get qualified which in-turn inspired Katie Perez-Muldoon. We’ve long hung up our boots, but the door is open for other women to get involved.

Women’s football is football. It’s the same game played on the same pitches as men and is equally entertaining. This summer fans of all genders and age groups flocked to Switzerland for EURO 2025 and dramatic moments were the order of the day. Who can forget Germany’s Ann-Katrin Berger, and her incredible leaping save before stopping two penalties in the shoot out and scoring one herself? Or Lucy Bronze playing the entire tournament with a fractured tibia?

England showed incredible resilience coming from behind to win every knockout match and lift the EURO trophy back-to-back. These players are role models for our women and girls, and I can feel the shift in Gibraltar; it’s especially visible in the GFA Girls team. GBC now have local female players as TV pundits and the fans fill out Europa Point Stadium even for league games (a few years ago nobody turned up apart from one match official). ‘The Rockettes’ have developed a large following with players like Shania Robba, Tiffany Viagas, and Reighann Olivero becoming household names.

Imagine what the future holds.