Big Story
It’s not often a 6-2 loss is taken to presage a “nation’s arrival on the big stage”, but that’s the reaction today in the Guardian from Anna Kessel on the England’s women’s team’s defeat in the UEFA European Championship final to Germany last night. The Germans, winning their seventh European title, were faster and stronger than the English underdogs, who were in their first final for a quarter-century.

But their run to the final and the pluck of their first half performance certainly demonstrated the improved quality of the team. At 3-2 early in the second half — England clawing their way back into it thanks to an exquisite feed from Karen Carney to Kelly Smith — the Germans were rattled, before their superior force saw them overrun England towards the end.

The women’s game in England has been growing fast at the grassroots, with participation booming over the past two decades, leading to this improved performance along with England’s under-19 team winning the European Championship in July. But development at the professional level has not kept pace so far, with the introduction of central contracts too late and too little to keep many English stars from moving to WPS in the U.S. along with the disrespectfully made announcement earlier this year that the proposed new F.A. summer women’s Super League would be delayed from its intended 2010 launch.

Amidst the excitement over England’s run this week, F.A. chief executive Ian Watmore got all the soundbites right as he promised the Super League really, really would launch in 20111. But once the media glare once again drifts away from the women’s game, will the F.A. finally fulfill their duties? Let’s hope the momentum from the past week does force them to do so.

Worldwide News

• Meanwhile, today is National Fabio Capello Day in England. The Telegraph’s Henry Winter remembers Capello’s own “thirty years of hurt” with the World Cup; the Times looks at the fortune England’s success so far has already earned the Italian; and the Daily Mail considers how Capello solved the conundrum of playing Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney together (“I spoke with them and I said you are a fantastic player, you are a fantastic player and you are another fantastic player.”)
• The Football Association is cashing in on success, with a new major sponsor — Mars — set to be unveiled soon. But ESPN are playing hardball over available FA Cup rights vacated by Setanta.
• Arsene Wenger makes an important if extremely self-serving point about the proposed ban on the transfer of players under the age of 18, arguing that reducing the ability for (oh, say) Arsenal to capture all the best talent would stifle their talent and perhaps more worryingly, lead to their sale to businessmen and agents.
• Jeff Cooper of St. Louis Soccer United speaks about his plans for men’s professional football in the city, a goal he seems to keep coming agonisingly close to achieving. Cooper was one of the leaders of the proposed purchase of USL from Nike recently, and speaks about the prospective breakaway league, whilst also keeping his options open for his obvious first preference to buy into MLS by attempting to woo David Beckham.
• Your Friday FIFA round-up of the upcoming weekend action not in Europe is available.

The Sweeper appears daily. For more rambling and links throughout the day every day, follow your editor Tom Dunmore @pitchinvasion on Twitter.

Amazingly, as the Guardian reports, doing the double is almost a disappointment for the Gunners; last year, Arsenal won the quadruple, the heart of their run of 51 straight wins that was finally ended with a draw earlier this season.

Let that sink in for a second: 51 straight wins. In a game where one bad bounce can cost you, that is undoubtedly a phenomenal achievement. It’s also not necessarily good for women’s football in England. Too many games are over before they begin, and nobody wants to know who the champion will be before the season even starts.

The structural problems in the English game are pretty clear. Despite impressive numbers for participation at the grassroots — over a million women and girls played the game last year — too many teams have for too long been at the mercy of their parent clubs. Arsenal’s dominance comes from the strong support they’ve received from the club, but that’s all too rare.

Leeds United L.F.C., Arsenal’s opponents today, have survived against the odds after being abandoned when Leeds United chairman Ken Bates cut their funding and use of training facilities. Leeds managed to buck the trend of this leading to disaster by acquiring sponsorship from Empire Direct and later Leeds Metropolitan University. For many women’s teams tied to men’s teams, though, relegation for the latter often means extinction for the former. This happened to Charlton Athletic’s women’s team just last year: success on the field for the females was not enough when the club decided to cut costs when the men were relegated.

The final thus contrasted two models: Arsenal Ladies success shows how much value can be gained from close cooperation with the men’s team. Yet league-wide, the trend should surely be towards Leeds’ now-independent model, so that women’s teams can develop on their own feet and not be dependent on the results of the men’s club for survival.

Women’s Professional Soccer
The launch of the new Women’s Professional Soccer league in the United States in 2009 might deal a further blow, at least in the short term, to women’s football in England. It is not hard to imagine that some of the best and most ambitious female players and coaches might jump ship to a fully professional team across the Atlantic.

Unlike the previous professional league, the WUSA, WPS looks to have a sensible modest business model that should mean it can survive without attracting huge crowds. I’ve been following closely the early stages of the formation of the Chicago WPS club (and so can you, if you read the blog by its president, Peter Wilt), and it looks like it will be a very impressive set-up (and Peter: please sign Kelly Smith!).

Like most other American professional sports leagues, WPS will surely encourage parity that would make 51 consecutive wins unlikely; WPS should be able to attract fans who want to see competitive soccer week in, week out. Teams will be independent entities, but some will also partner with MLS clubs to share facilities and resources (Chicago’s WPS team will play at the Fire’s Toyota Park, for example).

As well as competition, then, perhaps WPS in America can also set something of an example for how a women’s league could flourish. For as much as Arsenal set an inspiring example with their set-up and performance, no league can thrive when one team is indomitable and women’s teams are tied to the fluctuating fortunes of men’s teams.

The Guardian article also reports the FA are currently reviewing the future of the women’s game. Given the historical debt the F.A. owes the women’s game, let’s hope it really comes up with a solid plan and funding to develop a more competitive league.