By James Crook

164139064April 14 - A new documentary entitled A Different League: Where Next in the Evolution of Women's Football? has been produced, following the progress of women's football in England following an extraordinary London 2012 campaign which saw unprecedented attendances, including an Olympic record crowd of over 80,000 at Wembley Stadium.


The documentary offers a unique insight into the women's game, following the dominant force in England, Arsenal Ladies, as they set their sights on lifting the Women's UEFA Champions League trophy on home soil at Wembley under the guidance of new manager, Shelley Kerr.

It also features in-depth interviews with the biggest names in the domestic women's game, such as England's highest capped player, Rachel Yankey, fellow England internationals Jordan Nobbs and Stephanie Houghton, and legendary England manager Hope Powell, who gives her views on the development of the women's game, following the opening of the England national team's new training facility at St George's Park.

Women's London FA Cup winners Charlton Athletic Ladies also come under the spotlight in the film, following their campaign under manager Bill Long.

157012594The United States versus Japan gold medal match at London 2012 saw an Olympic record attendance of over 80,000

Various other experts in the field give their views on the development of women's football and the issue of why women's football is so rarely given mass media exposure, such as Andy Brassell, a European football expert for BBC, ESPN and Talksport; freelance sports journalist Natasha Henry and sports media branding expert Grant Campbell.

Brassell says in the documentary: "If I could sum up what the Olympics did for women's football in one word...It would be empowerment"

The women's football events at London 2012 attracted 740,014 fans - an Olympics attendance record for the spor t- over the 26 matches; nearly 100,000 more than the amount that attended women's football matches at Beijing 2008.

The Games also saw the record attendance for a women's football match as a crowd of more than 80,000 attended the gold medal match between the United States and Japan at Wembley Stadium, defeating the previous record of 76,000 set at Atlanta 1996.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]