FFC this week investigates the state of women's football and whether significant strides have been made this summer to increase its popularity.

There have been a number of fantastic sporting events for fans across the world to get excited by this summer. The Rugby World has kicked off in New Zealand, audiences got to watch the best athletes from across the globe at this year’s World Championships whilst English cricket fans in particular enjoyed a good summer as they watched their team become the best test team in the world. But the surprise sporting event of the summer and one of the most talked about was the FIFA Women’s World Cup held in Germany.

For a sport that has often suffered from a lack of interest and investment, this year’s tournament must be seen as a resounding success across the globe. The quality of the football was of a much higher level than previous years whilst in first time winners Japan, the women’s game had a fairytale story that captured the attention of the world. But FIFA, the national teams, players and fans must not let the renewed attention drawn to the sport thanks to the World Cup drop and the success of the summer must be something that women’s football takes advantage of.

This year’s tournament began with some minor buzz surrounding the event. 16 teams arrived in Germany and whilst there was the usual mix of potential winners in Brazil, England, Germany, USA and teams there with less of a chance, each of the four groups threw up some potentially mouth-watering ties. In particular both France and Germany, and USA and Sweden were both pitted against each other in the group stages. Across the schedule there was exciting encounters worthy of the increased TV audiences and stadium attendances. Eventual runners-up USA and South American favourites Brazil clashed in the quarter-finals where the Americans eventually prevailed on penalties but the game itself included all the excitement of a men’s World Cup game. The quality may still and probably will always be well below the men’s but beyond the unrealistic comparison, the quality of football on show was of a very high standard. The final itself, which saw favourites USA and underdogs Japan clash, was again decided on penalties after a match worthy of being the showpiece game of any major tournament.

Whilst the quality of the football may have been a notable improvement, it was the attention the tournament drew across the world as the competition progressed that marks the start of potentially a new era for the women’s game. Across the 16 teams that competed there was stand out personalities as the interest in particular players as celebrities grew, in particular that of US goalkeeper Hope Solo, whose dramatic performances at the tournament stole a lot of the headlines despite her team coming up just short. The World Cup also drew record TV audiences; in host nation Germany alone 17million tuned into see Germany crash out to Japan in the quarter-finals. Despite the hosts and home favourites leaving the competition early, the interest in the tournament in Germany and around the world remained strong.

The UK’s coverage of the tournament was somewhat restricted by the BBC’s decision to limit the coverage to the red button or online but the pressure to show England’s quarter-final encounter with France live was a sign of the growing interest in the game for TV audiences in this country.

But the most impressive stat of them all was that on one of the most popular forms of communication across the globe Twitter, the Women’s World Cup final became the most tweeted event in the website’s history. No one could have anticipated the online interest in a game between players few outside the women’s footballing world would recognise.

The success of the tournament has not gone unnoticed. Last week marked the arrival of the 2011 European Women and Sport conference in London. The conference saw UEFA announce plans to invest €23.6 million (just over £20 million) between the member national associations between 2012 and 2016. This level of finance and attention that Europe alone is putting into the women’s game and over a number of nations that have varying levels of participation and interest is a good sign for the future of the women’s football. It is hard to look past the 2011 World Cup has a major selling point for UEFA and hopefully world organisations to really push the game forward.

In England alone the FA looked to capitalise on the attention of the World Cup as England’s now slightly more famous players returned to action in the Women’s Super League (WSL) after a mid-season break. Arsenal were the eventual winners of the league format and whilst the buzz surrounding the World Cup did quickly die down (partly due to England’s failure to progress past the quarter-finals in Germany), the WSL and World Cup are a much superior format to any that women’s football in England has seen in a long time.

Qualification has already started for the next major tournament on the women’s calendar, the European Championships in 2013. Whilst early big wins (including Portugal beating Armenia 8-0 and Spain’s 10-1 destruction of Turkey) indicate that problems with consistent quality still remain, all the European heavyweights including England, Germany and France are in the mix as UEFA will look to replicate the success of the World Cup in Sweden in two years time. This year's UEFA Women's Champions League knockout stages are also due to start soon and UEFA will be hoping the competition better promotes the club game, something that women's football needs to do during the wait for another major international tournament.

The success of the World Cup may have been impressive but it would soon be no more than pointless if those in charge of the game around the world didn’t pay extra attention to one of the largest growing sports. The tournament in Germany not only set a benchmark for the players, FIFA and fans but also proved how good the women’s game can really be.

Do you think women’s football can build on the success of the World Cup? If you want to read more of my bite size, 140 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5

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