THEODORA PETER When Switzerland play Norway in the opening match of Euro 2025 at St. Jakob-Park in Basel on 2 July, they will not be among the title favourites. But they will have won anyway, as it will be the first time that the women’s national team have played in front a crowd of over 30,000 in a Swiss football stadium. Some of the squad ply their trade in leagues abroad and are already used to large crowds. One of them is captain Lia Wälti, who stars for the English club Arsenal FC (see “Swiss Review” 5/2023). Women’s football had a lowly status in Switzerland until recently. Largely ignored by media and sponsors, the Swiss national team usually played its matches at small grounds in front of a few hundred fans. Switzerland was named host of Euro 2025 two years ago, with the women’s team giving a good account of themselves a few months later at the 2023 World Cup in Australia. Public interest has been growing ever since. Amateurish Franziska Schild, 47, is a football administrator from Berne. She used to play in the Swiss top flight when she was younger, also picking up several Swiss international caps at the turn of the millennium. Women’s football in Switzerland was still very amateurish back then, she recalls. “They Women’s football on the big stage Women’s football is booming, but less so in Switzerland than in top footballing nations like Spain, England or Germany. The 2025 Women’s European Championship, which takes place in Switzerland this July, should help to close the gap. would reimburse our train ticket and pay for two pairs of football boots each year.” The shirts they played in were cast-offs from the men’s national team. They would flap around in the breeze. No one had made football shirts cut for women yet. Some regarded women’s football as a bit of a joke. “We players didn’t care. All we wanted was to play football.” A lot has happened since then – including at youth level. Schild has done her bit in recent years as head of football development at the Berne/ Jura football association, Switzerland’s biggest regional association comprising some 190 amateur clubs. “To get more girls playing football, we need more girls-only football,” she Goalkeeper Elvira Herzog (21), Luana Bühler (15), and Coumba Sow (right) defending the Swiss goal during an international friendly against France in Geneva on 29 October 2024. Switzerland won the match 2-1. Photo: Keystone Swiss Review / April 2025 / No.2 24 Sport
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYwNzMx