1968: the kick-off of gender equality
Zurich Women’s Football Club (Damenfussballclub Zurich, DFCZ) was founded on February 21, 1968 – the first officially recognised women’s football club in Switzerland.
- Deutsch 1968: Startschuss für Geschlechtergleichheit auf Rasen
- Español 1968: silbatazo de salida para igualdad sexual
- 中文 1968年：男女平等之役，正式开赛！
- Français 1968: coup d’envoi pour l’égalité des sexes
- عربي 1968: صافرة انطلاق المساواة بين الجنسين في الملاعب السويسرية
- Pусский Женскому равноправию в швейцарском футболе — 50 лет
- Italiano 1968: il fischio d'inizio della parità di genere
Ladies had been getting together for unofficial kickabouts in the French-speaking part of Switzerland as early as the 1920s, but the Swiss Football Association did not allow them to play official matches.
Even after DFCZ's founding, until 1971/1972 female teams were allowed to play only if they were affiliated to a male club. Because of this rule, in the 1970-1971 season three-quarters of the DFCZ players joined the smaller FC Blue Stars ladies team. The rest joined FC Zürich.
The first official women’s championship took place the same season, with 18 teams from three regional groups. DFCZ was one of them.
The early history of Swiss women’s football is poorly documented and hardly researched, according to the FCZ MuseumExternal link, which is currently expanding its archive, inviting the public to participate in their research.
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