Agarista soccer players celebrate victory Photo : fmf.md
“Nistru-Cioburciu” (Stefan Voda district), which was the main pursuer of the club from Anenii Noi during the whole tournament, even with two matches to spare has lost all chances for the championship. With four rounds to the end of the championship, the gap is 21 points. The other participants of the National Women’s League – Real Succes-ȘS11-Pudra (Chisinau) and Atletico (Balti) – have long fallen out of the championship race.
Agarista has 53 points after 20 rounds with 17 wins, two draws and one defeat. “Nistru-Cioburciu” has 32 points with nine wins, five draws and four defeats. Real Succes-ȘS11-Pudra and Atletico have 14 and 7 points respectively. At the same time, the club from Balti celebrated victory only twice in the season – the defeated team was the team from the capital.
The history of women’s soccer in our country dates back to the Soviet era. In 1987, a tournament was held in Kishinev – for the prizes of the publication “Sobesednik”. Along with opponents from other cities of the USSR, two teams from our republic participated in it. One of them – “Codru” (Kishinev) – was even represented in two seasons of the highest league of the USSR championship among women’s teams.
After Moldova gained independence, the national championship in women’s soccer was played in 1992 and 1993, but was interrupted. Only since 1996 the tournament was resumed and has been held steadily since then. Since 1997, when the first winner was determined, it is customary to keep track of champions.
The victory of “Agarista” allowed the club from Anenii Noi to catch up with “Codru”, which was the leader of women’s soccer in Moldova at the turn of the century (see table).
Since then, the number of teams participating in the championship has decreased and, as a consequence, the competition for the title has weakened. The gap in the standings between the second and third place teams is enormous. While now, at the final stretch of the 2024/25 championship, the difference between them is 18 points, eight years ago LTPS-2 (Chisinau) and Alga (Tiraspol) fought for the status of vice-champions until the last rounds. Noroc (Nimoreni village, Ialoveni district), which became champion in 2017, had a gap between them, but it was disproportionately smaller than in recent years.
It is obvious that the Moldovan Football Federation (FMF) wants to increase the intensity of the championship by increasing the number of matches, but the eight rounds that make up the calendar of the National Women’s League (teams face each other eight times during the season) only increase the gap between the teams. It would be reasonable to switch to a “playoff” system, where the top two teams face off in a two-match showdown to determine the champion, and the other two teams determine the bronze medalist in the same format.
The Anenii Noi School of Women’s Soccer is at the forefront of women’s soccer in our country. No other school can match it in terms of training, infrastructure and financial status. The best players of the country, who form the backbone of the Moldovan women’s national team, play at Agarista.
The silver medalist of the championship “Nistru-Cioburciu” is based in the Republican School of Olympic Reserve (Stefan Voda district). The club has never won the Moldovan championship title. The village of Ciobruci, where the club’s base is located, is in close proximity to the Transnistrian Slobozia, and therefore many natives of the left bank pass through “Nistru-Cioburciu”.
Ciobrucii were not represented in the National Football League for several years, but with the return to the championship, “Nistru-Cioburciu” managed to regain its status as one of the main women’s clubs in the country. Agarista has not been able to compete this season, but if the club qualifies for the next championship and has an effective pre-season, its chances of winning the title a year from now will increase.
Although there is no indication that anything can hinder Agarista’s hegemony in the women’s championship in the coming years. The team has a long bench, qualified specialists in the coaching staff, knows how to work on its own mistakes and identify the mistakes of its opponents. And its players have the best opportunity in Moldovan clubs to play against opponents from other countries.
The Moldovan women’s national team plays in qualifying tournaments for the World and European Championships, the League of Nations, and holds friendly matches. However, it cannot boast of brilliant results. At the moment in the Women’s League of Nations our national team is in third place in its group in Division C, ahead of rivals from Gibraltar. At the end of May Gennady Pushk’s wards will have to take the Faroe Islands team, and in early June – to go to Gibraltar for the return meeting in the fight for 3rd place. There are only theoretical chances to take the second place – in the remaining two meetings must win with a very large score. The national teams of the dwarf nations have shown a desperate struggle in defense in recent years, and therefore, you should not expect easy walks from matches with them.
Sports schools specializing in women’s soccer are working hard to strengthen the national teams in various age categories. Apart from the national team, there are U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-19 national teams that take part in qualifiers for major international championships and in exhibition tournaments. At the base of the national teams in Vadul-lui-Voda there are regular sparring sessions with foreign opponents, FMF is quite reverent about the level of preparation of young and young female players. Defeats in a match against strong national teams are not so acutely perceived, where women’s soccer is not an out of the ordinary sport, as it is perceived in the mass consciousness of our people, but common and attracting the attention of the masses of girls. The main thing is to maintain the intensity of matches and actively work on mistakes.
In 2008, Ludmila Ninicu, the Moldovan champion with “Narta”, who later played in the club “Goliador-ȘS11-Real” and was recognized as the best footballer of the year in 2010, said in a conversation with me that “in two or three years we will not have women’s soccer”. Fortunately, her words were not prophetic.
Women’s soccer may not be developing at the pace we would like it to. There are many things that need special attention. But progress is being made and is giving young girls the opportunity to choose this sport for their professional careers.
|
All the winners of the Moldovan championships |
|
| Season |
Winner |
| 1996/97 |
“Codru” (Chisinau) |
| 1997/98 |
“Codru” K |
| 1998/99 |
“Constructorul” (Chisinau) |
| 1999/2000 |
“Constructorul” |
| 2000/01 |
“Codru” K |
| 2001/02 |
“Codru” (Anenii Noi) |
| 2002/03 |
“Codru” NA |
| 2003/04 |
“Codru” NA |
| 2004/05 |
“Codru” NA |
| 2005/06 |
“Narta” (Chisinau) |
| 2006/07 |
“Narta” |
| 2007/08 |
“Narta” |
| 2008/09 |
“Narta” |
| 2009/10 |
“Roma (Kalfa village, Anenii Noi district) |
| 2010/11 |
“Goliador” (Chisinau) |
| 2011/12 |
“Noroc” (v. Nimoreni, Ialoveni district) |
| 2012/13 |
“Goliador-ȘS11-Real” (Chisinau) |
| 2013/14 |
“Real Succes-ȘS11” (Chisinau) |
| 2014/15 |
“Noroc” |
| 2015/16 |
ARF “Criuleni” |
| 2016/17 |
“Agarista” (Anenii Noi) |
| 2017/18 |
“Agarista” |
| 2018/19 |
“Agarista” |
| 2019/20 |
“Agarista” |
| 2020/21 |
“Agarista” |
| 2021/22 |
“Maksimum” (Cahul) |
| 2022/23 |
“Agarista” |
| 2023/24 |
“Agarista” |
| 2024/25 |
“Agarista” |
