The , or ''the Blues'', constists of the best
Female players in
France and is run by the
Fédération Française De Football . In
2005 , the team qualified for the
2005 UEFA Women's Championship
In
1919 a
Women's Football championship was established in France. On
April 29 1920 , France played its first international match against an English team,
Dick, Kerr's Ladies . The game, held in
Preston , attracted more than 25,000 spectators. ''The Blues'' lost the match 2-0. Further games were played against Dick, Kerr Ladies from Preston in England. The first game held in France was at the
Pershing Stadium in
Paris , and ended in a 1-1 tie against Dick, Kerr Ladies of England.
In May
1921 , France played in another English tournament. They won their first match 5-1, but then suffered 3 defeats. In October 1921, the English team came to France and played games in
Paris and
Le Havre , both matches ending in stalemate.
Despite the prohibition of women's football by the English
Football Association , games continued in England. A victory for the French in
Plymouth was followed by no-score draws in
Exeter and
Falmouth .
By
1932 , the female game had been called to an end. The last match by the ''France de la Fédération des Sociétés Féminines Sportives de France'' team was another scoreless draw against the
Belgian Women's Team on
April 3 1932 .
Throughout the late 60s in France, particularly in
Reims , players worked hard to promote awareness and acceptance of women's football. A year before getting official sanction, ''the Blues'' took park in a clandestine
Europe an cup against
England ,
Denmark and
Italy , won by the Italians. Women's football was officially reinstated in
1970 , and players organized an unofficial World Cup, won by Denmark. ''The Blues'' did not participate in that cup, but took part in the
1971 World Cup held in
Mexico . The ladies continued the pirate games, which just made it into the margins of
FIFA 's records, until FIFA began overseeing the competition in
1991 . Since
1982 ,
UEFA has governed the European games.
Stade Of Reims was the best team around from the
1960s to the early
1980s , and thus constituted much of the French national squad. For the non-official World Cup in
1978 in
Taiwan , the team included the entire Reims squad. The shared the title with the
Finnish Team , who never actally played the final.
After the hopes born in the rebellion years and the good level reached by the best French players, one would expect to see the French team doing well in the competitions, but this was not the case. Women's football was not regarded highly by the football federation, which did not place much store in developing it. President Fournet-Fayard was particularly complicit in this oversight. In this period ''the Blues'' were notable only for their absence in major international tournaments.
Under the wing of
Aimé Jacquet , top level female football was overseen by
Clairefontaine , arguably the finest football
Academy in the world. Frances "A Team" and younger women alike were afforded the same benefits from the facilities offered by Clairefontaine as the men. Under the tutilage of
Elisabeth Loisel , the first results appeared encouraging. They got to the
2003 World Cup after defeating England in a play-off game in
London and again in
Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium . The second match attracted more than 23,000 spectators and was broadcast by
Canal Plus . Loisel's squad qualified for the
2005 European Championships , where they were knocked out in the group stage.
- 1971 : 6th (non-official competition)
- 1978 : Winners (non-official competition)
- 1988 : 4th (non-official competition)
- 1991 : Did not qualify
- 1995 : Did not qualify
- 1999 : Did not qualify
- 2003 : 1st round
- 1969 : 4th (non-official competition)
- 1979 : 1st round (non-official competition)
- 1984 : 1st round
- 1987 : 1st round
- 1989 : quarter final
- 1991 : 1st round
- 1993 : 1st round
- 1995 : 1st round
- 1997 : quarter final
- 2001 : quarter final
- 2005 : Group stage
- July 2003 : 9
- August 2003 : 9
- October 2003 : 9
- December 2003 : 9
- March 2004 : 9
- June 2004 : 7
- July 2004 : 7
- December 2004 : 9
- March 2005 : 5
- June 2005 : 5
