a"'Women playing soccer?! What an oddity! What a hilarious sight!' This was the reaction when women first took to the soccer field in 1881. Since the sport's humble beginnings, female soccer players faced--and overcame--obstacles to playing the sports they love. Girls with Goals dives deep into the history of women's soccer, detailing its early days in the factory yards of northern England, the impact of a fifty-year ban, the unofficial world cup that followed, the launch of its popularity inspired by a gutsy American squad, and the progress that paved the way for the astonishing victories that have made the women's game the global phenomenon it is today. The rise of the women's game is a twisty, turny but triumphantly feminist tale and is one of the most fascinating stories in sports--and women's--history. It's a story of athletic excellence, camaraderie and friendship, strength of character, and resilience--all with a feminine touch. Throughout its nearly one-hundred-and-fifty-year history, female soccer players have pushed the game forward, setting fresh goals every time they reached a new level of success. Despite all the barriers that stood before them all along the way, nothing could stop these girls with goals." -- Page 4 of cover.