The Andorra women's national football team (Catalan: Selecció femenina de futbol d'Andorra) represents Andorra in women's association football and is controlled by the Andorran Football Federation, the governing body for football in Andorra.
History
Background and development
With a FIFA trigramme of AND[1] and having become a FIFA affiliated in 1996, the national association did not respond to a survey about the status of women's football in the country. In May of the following year, the official who answered another survey from FIFA reckoned there to be 37 active female players, all described as "100% beginners/amateurs". It was further suggested women's football had begun that year in Andorra and that there had been no previous interest in any women's sport. There was no participation in national or international competitions, though three women were employed in the association.[2]
As of 2009, the programme was geared for young girls with player registration starting at the age of six. There are only six women's teams in the country, all for girls under the age of sixteen and includes a national and schools competition.[3] There is also a national women's competition that took place in 2010/2011.[4] 16% of the money from the FIFA Financial Assistance Programme (FAP) is targeted at the technical development of the game, which includes women's football, sport medicine and futsal. This compares to 48% for youth football and 25% for infrastructure.[5]
Between 1991 and 2010, there was no FIFA FUTURO III regional course for women's coaching, no women's football seminar held in the country and no FIFA MA course held for women/youth football.[3]
The team
On 1 July 2014, the senior team played its first international game in the UEFA Development Tournament celebrated in Gibraltar. Andorra defeated Gibraltar by 1–0, scored by Alba at the 61st minute.[6][7] The next day, they played its second international game, losing against Luxembourg by 4–0.
On 18 December 2014, UEFA announced Andorra would take part in the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying. This was their debut competitive match at female football.[8] In its first official game, the team lost 3–5 to Malta.[9] Andorra finished the preliminary round with two more defeats against Faroe Islands by 0–8 and Georgia by 0–7.
Stadium
Andorra's former home stadium, Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella.
From 1996 until 2014 Andorra played their home matches at the Comunal d'Andorra la Vella, in the capital city of Andorra la Vella. This stadium has a capacity of 1,800 people.
Kit suppliers
Kit provider |
Period |
Adidas |
2014 – present |
Manager history
- Joan Carles Ruiz (2014–)