FC Copenhagen Women have reached Denmark’s top division after two promotions, but staying there will test a project built with startup-like ambition and the backing of one of the country’s best-known football clubs. The team opened its league campaign in August 2024 before 5,165 fans at Vanløse Idrætspark, and now faces the work of establishing itself in the A-Liga.
For Romaney Pinnock, the club’s head of women’s football, the structure offers both opportunity and support. The women’s team is new, she said, but it sits beneath an established club brand, with infrastructure that can help it grow. The plan was to reach the top flight quickly, and back-to-back promotions delivered that aim within 26 months.
FC Copenhagen has drawn on the wider club’s marketing and commercial expertise to shape a distinct identity for its women’s side. The team has a different kit, its own sponsors and a separate matchday experience. Its recent derby against Brøndby attracted 8,047 people to Parken, an A-Liga record. These are visible signs of audience-building, while the club works to secure its position on the pitch.
Copenhagen Women Have to Establish Their Place
The team’s first top-flight season has brought immediate sporting pressure. After 10 fixtures, FCK sat second from bottom, and the club parted ways with head coach Kasper Klarskov Nielsen after three matches. Pinnock said the priority is to stay in the division, even as the club holds longer-term goals of challenging for trophies, competing in Europe and taking part in the global transfer market.
Many players are balancing football with work or study as they adjust to the top league’s physical demands. Forward Maria Hovmark said around 80-90% of the players had never competed in the top division. She described the first year as tough, but said the group and club were gradually adapting. Hovmark is among the experienced talent the club hopes to bring back to Denmark.
The club’s model also looks beyond the senior team. Its “Hall of Femmes” campaign with main partner Andel features young female footballers on banners at Parken and offers two annual scholarships for players aged 14-19. FCK is also testing an academy model where girls and boys train together according to age, ability and development needs rather than gender.
A Growing Club With a Longer-Term Plan
Those ambitions are developing alongside Danish women’s football, which the source describes as still early in its journey. The Danish Football Association is working on investment, exposure and minimum standards. Pinnock said some clubs are pushing progress while others need to raise their level. She also pointed to learning from neighboring countries as an opportunity.
The club’s plans include developing homegrown players who see staying in Denmark as attractive, alongside bringing experienced players such as Hovmark back home. Hovmark said more full-time teams are making the league more serious and can attract people, which she believes raises the level. Copenhagen Women have a startup-like identity, but the operation now needs to convert rapid promotion into stability within the top division.
Copenhagen Women have reached a new phase, but survival in the A-Liga comes first. Pinnock said the club expects a grace period of two or three seasons before it must fully embrace FCK’s winning model and target the top. The next test is whether its commercial foundations, player development and on-field results can advance together.
Her Forward has also covered an accelerator for women founders, funding opportunities for women entrepreneurs and women’s representation in management. These stories connect to the wider questions of women’s leadership and opportunity that shape FCK’s stated ambitions.
The report on FCK’s women’s team outlines a project now balancing fast promotion with the slower work of building a top-flight club.
