She made history and has stories to tell, is a pioneer of Swiss women's football and a door opener for today's national team players: Madeleine Boll, Switzerland's first licensed female footballer.
20.06.2025, 18:30
SDA
Granges, a district of Sierre in the Rhone Valley in Valais, not far from Sion. Grapes ripen on the southern slopes, the plain is characterized by agriculture. Madeleine Boll grew up here, not far from the language border between Upper and Lower Valais. This is where she learned to play and love football. The soon-to-be 72-year-old still lives in the municipality today. And has witnessed at close quarters how the mountain village of Blatten, just a stone's throw away, has made headlines beyond the country's borders in recent weeks.
It has been 60 years since Boll himself caused a stir in the media - and not just in the "Walliser Bote" and "Nouvelliste". "I was reported on in Italy and Sweden, and there were even newspaper articles in Venezuela and Gabon," she says. And all because she had played football.
The girl among boys
Madeleine Boll is now sitting in a café at Zurich main station. Anyone expecting to be greeted with a gentle handshake from an older woman is in for a surprise. There is a firm handshake, like before the kick-off of a football match. Boll's demeanor is not an act, she is just like that - a little stressed at the moment, a person in demand in the run-up to the European Championships. One appointment follows the next. But the pioneer of women's football, the door opener for today's stars of the national team, still takes time to tell the story that has made her world-famous.
The story begins on July 8, 1953, when Madeleine was born as the second of three children in the Boll family. Her older brother plays football and her younger sister follows in his footsteps. He stands in the goal where she kicks the balls. Little Madeleine is talented and can be found on the football pitch every free minute. As the only girl. "It was normal for the people in my village, they saw me growing up like that."
At that time, playing football was reserved for the "stronger sex". The risk of injury was too great for the fragile girls - this was not only the general consensus, but also an article in the statutes of the Swiss Football Association. But Madeleine, who everyone calls "Mado", is not deterred by this.
From Valais to the big wide world
When her school friend Gilbert joins FC Sion, Madeleine urges him to do the same. The coach surprisingly agrees. The left-footed player auditions and is so convincing that she receives an official license. The first female player in Switzerland to do so. A few days later, FC Sion played in the European Cup Winners' Cup. However, the 5:1 win against Galatasaray Istanbul is almost a side note. After all, it didn't escape the reporters' attention that a girl had been on the pitch in the run-up to the match between two FC Sion junior teams.
The murmur in the stands is huge, and the next day's papers are full of gossip. "There wasn't a part of the world where I wasn't written about," says Boll. At the time, she didn't realize that she was a pioneer. Today she says: "That was the beginning of my story."
But there was a downside to the episode. The SFV caved in under the pressure of the media coverage and withdrew Boll's license, citing a formal error in the issuing process. As a result, Boll plays in school tournaments in Lausanne, where no license is required. Until a phone call from Ticino relaunched her career. "A lawyer got in touch and reported interest from Italy. They hadn't forgotten the article about the girl from Valais playing football," she says and laughs.
Via Italy to the double with Sion
In 1970, the year in which the Swiss women's football league was launched under President Jean Boll (Madeleine's father) and in which Madeleine played the Swiss women's national team's first international match against Italy on her 17th birthday, the Valais native moved abroad. She joins the Milan-based club Associazione Calcio Femminile Gommagomma Meda. Not yet of legal age, she stayed in Valais and commuted to matches in northern Italy. She did this for five years. Then she ended the adventure. "At some point, the traveling became too much for me. It was a great time, but also a tough one."
Boll returned to Valais and went on to play for DFC Sion, with whom she won the double in 1976 and 1977, before hanging up her boots at the age of just 25. "The standard was high in Italy. In Switzerland, many juniors played for the women's teams because there were no junior divisions. That wasn't very appealing in the long term," she explains. She is also training to be a social worker - so there is no time for football.
The driving force
Nevertheless, she remains loyal to football. As a spectator, but above all as a driving force. First as an official in the Valais association, and later also in the SFA, she was primarily committed to women's football. Fearless, strong and loyal - just like the St. Bernard puppy "Maddli", the European Championship mascot named after the pioneer. "The development of the last few years gives me confidence. I'm sure that the European Championship will create a boom in Swiss women's and girls' football."
The final question is how Madeleine Boll feels when she sees girls playing football today. "It makes my heart beat faster," she says - and her eyes have been shining brighter than ever since we started talking. "They can achieve anything today." Also thanks to her, the pioneer and door opener.
