In 1999, a revolution occurred in not only women’s soccer, but for women’s sports in general. The United States women’s national team captured the World Cup in front of packed stadiums across the country, capped off by a thrilling win on penalty kicks in the Rose Bowl against China. While this was the first tourney in which many people saw the team, this was not the beginning of the women’s national team, nor would the team rest on its laurels. The entire history of the team, from the humble beginnings in 1985 to the team looking to defend its title in the 2019 World Cup, is captured in this excellent book by Caitlin Murray.

While Murray starts the book with the 1999 team and its watershed victory, her research goes back further to the beginnings of the team 14 years earlier. However, more than the early history of the team, the best research and writing is about what the team endured after 1999, when it was struggling to earn equal pay, equipment and facilities to that of the US men’s national team. It should be noted that the men have not come close to matching the success of the women on the field, having never won a World Cup and failing to quality for the tourney in 2018. In this context, it is often asked why the men’s team is being paid more for less success.

Interviews with scores of players, coaches and team officials make the book a complete accounting of the teams. Controversy is not shied away from – the legal and on-field struggles of goalie Hope Solo is just one example of how the not-so-good times are covered as well as the success. On them, there is plenty to cover there as well, even when the team was losing veteran players and getting younger, having coaching changes which would mean different styles of play and also tense contract negotiations. Whatever information a reader wants to find on this team, it will be found in this book.

The other theme of the book is to illustrate the struggles of organizing a professional women’s soccer league. Currently, the US Soccer Federation is making its third attempt at fielding a league, this time with much assistance from the men’s professional league in the United States, Major League Soccer. Again, like with the other topics, Murray writes about this from a position of knowledge and the reader will learn a great deal about women’s professional soccer in the United States.

Given all of this information, the book is also an easy, fast read. The pages will be turning quickly as the reader absorbs as much as he or she can about the history of the most successful soccer team in the United States.

I wish to thank Abrams Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

There does not seem to be a Kindle version of this book available. I have downloaded the pdf but unfortunately am unable to open it on my MAC so am unable to review this title.