Women's Cup enters new era

UEFA has worked hard to boost the appeal of women's football - and its club competition, the UEFA Women's Cup, is a key element in the drive to promote the female game. The second vice-chairwoman of the UEFA Women's Football Committee, Susanne Erlandsson believes an extra dimension is being given to the competition through a variety of measures, such as branding and potential format changes in the future.

New era
Speaking at the draw for the 2007/08 competition, which was held at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Thursday, Erlandsson said UEFA's decision to move women's football into its professional football division's activities at the start of 2005 had signalled the beginning of a new era of development for the women’s game.

Innovations
"UEFA has been making significant efforts and progress in upgrading women’s football and its cup competitions," she said. "We are extending the range of Women's Cup branding to include captain's armbands and TV graphics. In addition, for the following season, we will be introducing a Women's Cup anthem, and this will all help to make the competition even more attractive."

Club focus
The Swedish Football Association second vice-president also revealed that UEFA is to study the results of a survey sent out to all of its member associations in an effort to find the most suitable format for the competition while taking into account sporting, organisational and promotional requirements. "The UEFA Women's Cup competition is doing much to help develop women's football," she said. "We have come a long way in developing the national teams - now the time has come to work even harder to develop the clubs."