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ABSTRACT
The FA banned women’s football from the grounds of Association-affiliated clubs in 1921, on the grounds that the organisation perceived that football was ‘unsuitable’ for women and too much money raised for charity had been absorbed in player expenses. But women continued to play. This article analyses how Manchester Corinthians Ladies Football Club, which had been formed in 1949, was able to sustain a varied range of overseas tours and domestic matches in spite of the ban. Using a range of methods, including oral history, family history interviews, a reunion of the surviving players and player memorabilia, firstly, the article provides a history of Corinthians and Nomads from 1949 onwards. Secondly, the article uses oral history to reflect what the players felt about playing for the club and particularly its overseas tours, and charity work. Not all of the players are represented due to constraints of space, but this is an introduction to a larger ongoing project to reclaim the teams’ history. Finally, the article argues that it is important to examine the 1950s and 1960s, decades when women’s football was an unregulated activity, in order to understand that which followed once the FA ban was lifted in 1969.
Acknowledgements
The author is particularly grateful to Tracy Cook, daughter of Marlene, and the women of Manchester Corinthians for their help with this article. Programme notes were kindly provided by John Carrier a historian of Welsh soccer, and particularly the women’s game. Thanks also to Joanna Compton of jjheritge.com and Belinda Scarlett and Tim Desmond of National Football Museum for hosting the women’s football reunion 30 September and 1 October 2018, where many of the Corinthians players gave us their stories.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Jean Williams, A Game For Rough Girls (Routledge, 2003), 11.
2 Margaret Whitworth and Margaret Shepherd, Oral History Interviews (The National Football Museum)
3 Jean Williams, A Contemporary History of Women’s Sport, Part One: Sporting Women (Routledge, 2014), 129.
4 Jean Williams, A Beautiful Game: International Perspectives on Women’s Football (Berg, 2007), 138–9.
5 Alex Jackson (ed.), The Greater Game: A History of Football in World War One (Shire, 2014), 35.
6 Manchester Corinthians, Manchester Corinthians Versus Lancashire Programme Craven Park 3 June 1951 p. 3.
7 Carrie Dunn, ‘Sylvia Gore: Obituatry’, The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/sep/15/sylvia-gore-obituary (accessed August 6).
8 Esther Rose, ‘Chuckles or Cheers?’ Daily Express (22 April 1960), 12.
9 Kath Davies, ‘Memories of A Corinthian Lady’, Unlocking The Hidden Histories of Women’s Football Blogs (National Football Museum), https://unlockingthehiddenhistory.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/kath-davies-memories-of-a-corinthian-lady/ (accessed August 4, 2019).
10 Manchester Corinthians versus All Star XI Programme 19 May 1967 Brighouse Waterloo Roads Playing Fields https://unlockingthehiddenhistory.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/kath-davies-memories-of-a-corinthian-lady/ (accessed August 4, 2019).
11 Manchester Corinthians versus National All Stars Ladies XI in aid of the Cambrian Colliery Disaster Fund 28th August 1965 Belle Vue Stadium Manchester p. 3 John Carrier Collection sent by email to author.
12 Manchester Corinthians versus All Star XI Programme 19 May 1967 Brighouse Waterloo Roads Playing Fields https://unlockingthehiddenhistory.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/kath-davies-memories-of-a-corinthian-lady/ (accessed August 4, 2019).
13 Pierre Geoffroy Stade de Reims FC (French spelling) to Gladys Aiken 20 April 1970 Gladys Aiken Scrapbook 2 National Football Museum, Preston.
14 Pierre Geoffroy Stade de Reims FC (French spelling) to Gladys Aiken 11 May 1970 Gladys Aiken Scrapbook 2 National Football Museum, Preston.
15 Jeré Longman, ‘In Women’s World Cup Origin Story, Fact and Fiction Blur’, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/sports/womens-world-cup-france.html (accessed August 5).
16 Anon Sir Alf Please Note, The Daily Express 6 July undated Gladys Aiken Scrapbook 2 (National Football Museum, Preston).
17 Jean Williams, Joanna Compton and Belinda Scarlett, ‘Sporting reunions, contemporary collections and collective biographies: a case study Harry Batt’s ’71 England Team’, in Upfront and Onside Special Edition: Sport in History, eds. Kay Biscomb, Kath Leflay, Alsion Forbes, Tina Smith and Jean Williams (39: 2 June 2019), 229–50.
18 The Women’s Football Associaiton 1970 invitational tournament for the Teddy Gray Memorial Challenge Trophy 28 June 1970 Deal Kent Programme’ WFA Archive MS 89306/4/1 British Library.
19 Williams et al., ‘Sporting reunions,’ 229.
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21 David Marlowe, notes ‘England Squad selection 2 July 1973’, WFA Archive MS 89306/2/26 British Library.
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23 The WFA WFA Council Information Sheet Number 11 24 March 1982 WFA Archive MS89306/3/6 British Library.
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25 Brenda Elsey and Joshua Nadel, Futbolera: A History of Women and Sports in Latin America (Austen: University of Texas Press, 2019), 127.
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27 David Marlowe, ‘Women’s Football News 29/01/75 WFA Archive MS 89306/2/26 British Library.
28 Carol Thomas: England Captain 56 caps Oral History interview with the author 1 July 2019.
29 Gill Coultard England Captain 119 caps Oral History interview with the author 1 July 2019.
30 Anon. ‘Ann, 12, forms football team’, Lancashire Evening Telegraph 31 March 1970 Anne Ellwood personal collection.