ABSTRACT
The largest organised sport for girls and women continues in breaking barriers with the women's national teams’ abroad, increase in media attention and higher attendance in elite clubs. Huge resistance and discrimination have neither stopped women from playing nor coaching, leading, refereeing. Several players are playing in professional leagues domestic and abroad, like the famous Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg. Here, I present research from the perspectives of women inside football about the development locally and globally and pinpoint how women have been breaking barriers in the past and today, which also are crucial for the future. I address how women's football in Norway developed from entertainment in men's eyes, with pressure from the women's movement to inclusion in the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF), international successes, stronger league organisation and more professional opportunities. Like in other European countries female teams have emerged into male top clubs in Norway, which has attracted more sponsors and larger club support (i.e. medical, economic, volunteers), but which also create some challenges. Women footballers positively highlight the increase in professional opportunities, support from spectators and sponsors, and the explosion in media attention the last period.
