ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that the player motivation in professional soccer can be a complex amalgam of ideological, practical and emotional factors. The chapter looks at the historical fluxes in the development of the women's game. It argues that the conscious decision making about labour market choices and the unconscious motives are integral. The chapter focuses on the idea that immersion in a soccer-rich culture has been one aspect of the cultural transfer wrought by individuals moving across the globe. It explores how women players' love of the game, and its attendant aspects, is an inherent aspect of soccer's transnational fluxes. The chapter uses the historical evidence to explore why this phenomenon appears to be a recent development. This debate also takes place in a wider context of the gendered performance of soccer as a profession. The chapter briefly explores the historical background of organised women's soccer going back to 1881, before looking at some recent twenty-first century developments in professionalising aspects of the industry.
