The narrative arc of women’s football in Switzerland is a familiar one: from apathy to hostility to mockery to inertia to change. Now the country will host one of the biggest events in the sporting calendar
In 1957 the Swiss newspaper Sport published a short editorial under the headline “Women’s Football?” Furious that a women’s friendly between Germany and the Netherlands was being hosted in Basel, the writer mocked: “This event is not about football, but rather should be classified as an exhibition or circus performance.”
On Wednesday evening, in front of a sell-out crowd, Switzerland will play their opening game of a home European Championship that will be one of the biggest sporting events held in the country. Sport newspaper, sadly, will be unable to chronicle the event, having folded in 1999. Life moves on you pretty fast.
Written by Jonathan Liew
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jul/01/womens-euro-2025-football-switzerland under the title “A moment to sense the sheer scale of progress: Euro 2025 set for kick-off | Jonathan Liew”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
