Women's Football Association



The Women's Football Association or WFA was the governing body of women's football in England. It was formed in 1969 and was disbanded in 1993, as responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the amateur game of women's football in England passed to The FA.

History
On 1 November 1969, representatives of 44 clubs attended the inaugural meeting at Caxton Hall in London. Six months later seven regional Leagues were represented at the first AGM. The first secretary was Arthur Hobbs. In 1971, under pressure from UEFA, the FA rescinded its ban on women playing football on the pitches of its member clubs. Also that year the WFA held the first national knock out cup; the Mitre Trophy, which became the FA Women's Cup. The following year the WFA launched an official England national team, who beat Scotland 3–2 in Greenock.

In 1983 the WFA affiliated to the FA on the same basis as the County Football Associations. A twenty four club National League was established by the WFA in 1991.

In June 1993 the WFA ceased to exist when power was transferred to the FA. The 1993–94 FA Women's Cup was the first to be run under direct control of the FA, while the league structure was taken over and re–branded in 1994–95. It was intended that the resources and experience of the FA would capitalise on increased participation levels and arrest a decline in fortunes for the women's national team.

Legacy
The FA's subsequent performance did not meet with universal approval. Linda Whitehead, the WFA's secretary for 13 years prior to the switchover, said of the FA, "A lot of people felt very bitter. It wasn't what they wanted to do, it was the way they did it &mdash; they just rode roughshod all over us." In December 1994 Arsenal Ladies manager Vic Akers lamented, "They [the FA] have been in charge 18 months now and they talk about a development plan. But I haven't heard a single word yet about what they actually intend to do."

A 2006 Department for Culture, Media and Sport report into women's football concluded that the FA had been largely successful in developing and promoting the women's game in England. Sue Lopez noted that prior to 1993 the WFA provided only "scant support" and that participation levels had stagnated between 1976 and 1991. Jean Williams reported that the WFA had been a "pretty leaky umbrella," particularly after 1985 when a lack of resources was compounded by infighting. Kelly Simmons, the FA's director of women's football, stated that “the WFA did a brilliant job as a voluntary organisation, but the amount of human and financial resources the FA could put behind women’s football was a major change.”