‘The game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged’: a comparative analysis of the 1921 English Football Association ban on women's football in Britain and Ireland

ABSTRACT

On 5 December 1921, the English Football Association (FA) implemented a ban on affiliated clubs allowing women’s teams to use their grounds and the use of FA registered referees, thus undermining and restricting the women’s game. The FA claimed that football was unsuitable for women and that it should not be encouraged. 2021 also marks 50 years since UEFA directed its members to recognise women’s football. The FA ban has been well documented; however, the English experience of the ban implemented by the FA has been conflated with the experience of the rest of Britain and Ireland. This article examines the impact, the FA ban had on women’s football in these regions. It explores if a similar ban was introduced by the four other British and Irish governing bodies (Scottish Football Association, Welsh Football Association, Irish Football Association and the Football Association of Ireland formerly the Football Association of the Irish Free State) and what impact this had on women’s football there.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Glasgow Caledonian University for providing funding to make this article available on open access.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Fiona Skillen and Carol A. Osborne, ‘It’s Good to Talk: Oral History, Sports History and Heritage’, The International Journal of the History of Sport 32, no. 15 (2015): 1883–98, 1890.

2 The newspaper digitised is the Manchester Evening News but its rival the Manchester Evening Chronicle paid more attention to football, while both newspapers saved their best football coverage for their Saturday evening sporting newspapers. None of which have been digitised.

3 Early research includes: David J Williamson, Belles of the Ball: The Early History of Women’s Football (Devon: R&D Associates, 1991); John Williams and J. Woodhouse, ‘Can Play, Will Play? Women and Football in Britain’ in British Football and Social Change, eds. John Williams and Steve Wagg (Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1991); Gertrud Pfister, Kari Fasting, Sheila Scraton and Benilde Vazquez, ‘Women and Football – A Contradiction? The Beginnings of Women’s Football in Four European Countries’, European Sports History Review 1 (1998): 1–26; Alethea Elisabeth-Anne Melling, ‘Ladies’ Football’: Gender and the Socialisation of Women Football Players in Lancashire c.1916–1960’ (PhD thesis, University of Central Lancashire, 1999).

4 Carrie Dunn, The Roar of the Lionesses: Women’s Football in England (Durrington: Pitch Publishing, 2016); Kate Themen and Jenny van Hooff, ‘Kicking against Tradition: Women’s Football, Negotiating Friendships and Social Spaces’, Leisure Studies 36, no. 40 (2017): 542–552; Gail J. Newsham, In a League of their own: The Dick, Kerr Ladies 1917–1965 (Preston: Paragon, 2018); Gary James, Manchester City Women: An Oral History (Halifax: James Ward, 2019); Jean Williams, A Game for Rough Girls? A History of Women’s Football in Britain (London: Routledge, 2003).

5 Alex Culvin, ‘Football as Work: The New Realities of Professional Women Footballers in England’ (PhD thesis, University of Central Lancashire, 2019).

6 Bolton has published a variety of online articles such as Steve Bolton, ‘Carmen Pomies: The Most important Woman Footballer in History’, Playing Pasts, https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/carmen-pomiesthe-most-important-woman-footballer-in-historypart/ (accessed June 8, 2021); Gary James, ‘Establishing Women in Sports History: Manchester City Football Club’, Sport in History 40, no. 4 (2020): 434–455.

7 Karen Fraser, ‘Sisters Doing it for Themselves: The Rich History of Women’s Football in Scotland from the 1960s to 2020’, Sport in History, 40, no. 2 (2021): 456–81. Jess Macbeth,, ‘The Development of Women’s Football in Scotland’, Sports Historian 22, no. 2 (2002): 149–63. Jess Macbeth, ‘Women’s Football in Scotland: An Historical Perspective’, in Women, Football and Europe: Histories, Equity and Experiences, eds. Jonathan Magee, Jayne Caudwell, Katie Liston, and Sheila Scraton (Oxford: Meyer and Meyer, 2007), 3–26. Margot McCuiag, ‘A Brief History of Women's Football’ (2000), Scottish Football Museum Archives. S. Macmillan, The Forgotten Twelve: An Investigation into the Availability of Archival Material about Scottish Women’s Football and Why It Is Worthy of Consideration (Masters Dissertation, University of Glasgow, 2015).

8 Karen Fraser, ‘Against the Run of Play: The History of Women’s Football in Scotland 1960–2020’ (PhD Thesis University of Stirling, 2021).

9 Helena Byrne, ‘Where Are We Now? A Review of Research on the History of Women's Soccer in Ireland’, Sport in History 39, no. 2 (2019): 166–86.

10 Katie Liston, Helena Byrne, and Maeve O’Riordan (eds.), ‘Women in Sport’, Studies in Arts in Humanities 7, no. 1 (2021): 7–17.

11 Stuart Gibbs, ‘When Women’s Football Came to the Island’, Studies in Arts and Humanities 7, no. 1 (2021): 35–57; Helge Faller, ‘Part of the Game: The First Fifty Years of Women’s Football in Ireland and the International Context’, Studies in Arts and Humanities 7, no. 1 (2021): 58–84.

12 Helena Byrne et. al, 'Dataset: Mapping Irish Football', British Library Research Repository, 2021. https://doi.org/10.23636/ndrx-sf60 (accessed January 21, 2022); Helena Byrne, ‘Mapping Irish Women's Football’, British Library Newsroom Blog, June 11, 2020. https://blogs.bl.uk/thenewsroom/2020/06/mapping-irish-womens-football.html (accessed June 28, 2021).

13 A number of individual researchers have been helpful in sharing their findings in relation to international and domestic teams from Wales; Georgina Gittins, Stuart Gibbs, Stephen Bolton, Martin Johnes and Daniel Mooney, Jeff McInery, Rob Glaves, Jon Edwards and Colin Staples.

14 For example, ‘Lady Football Players’, Athletic News, June 22, 1881, 7; ‘Disorderly Scene at a Women’s Football Match’, Manchester Guardian, June 22, 1881, 8.

15 ‘A Game of Football’, Derbyshire Times, January 21, 1899, 7. This article refers to girls playing football in the Market Place, Riddings on January 2, 1899. ‘A Swinton dribbler’, South Yorkshire Times, April 6, 1894, 6. This article discusses ‘several young women’ playing football in the street with men in Station Street, Swinton, Mexborough.

16 Manchester established a 12 club league for teams playing within ten miles of its city centre and that league also applied unsuccessfully for affiliation to the FA. ‘A Ladies Football League’, Aberdeen Evening Express, July 21, 1917, 1; ‘Ladies as Leaguers’, Yorkshire Evening Post, September 22, 1917, 3.

17 Sue Lopez, Women on the Ball (London: Scarlet Press, 1997).

18 Gail J. Newsham, In a League of their Own: The Dick, Kerr Ladies 1917–1965 (Preston: Paragon, 2018). Newsham has been researching, writing and publishing on Dick, Kerr Ladies since the 1980s. She has published several ground-breaking histories and has been working with media companies on various initiatives to promote their story. This includes books aimed at promoting football to young girls, such as Eve Ainsworth, Kicking Off: Dick, Kerr Girls (Preston: UCLAN Publishing, 2020).

19 ‘Football’, Gloucester Citizen, January 10, 1921, 5. The Goodison Park attendance was estimated at between 45,000 and 53,000 with thousands locked out in a variety of contemporary newspapers, see ‘Latest Football Gossip’, Dundee Courier, December 29, 1920, 6; ‘Sporting Items’, Derby Daily Telegraph, December 28, 1920, 3.

20 For example, ‘Women Footballers’, Manchester Evening News, June 11, 1921, 3; ‘Woman (sic) Footballers’, Cheshire Observer, July 2, 1921, 3; ‘Football by Ladies’, Sheffield Daily Telegraph, May 5, 1921, 7.

21 See Alethea Elisabeth-Anne Melling, ‘Ladies’ Football’: Gender and the Socialisation of Women Football Players in Lancashire c.1916–1960’ (PhD thesis, University of Central Lancashire, 1999).

22 Jean Williams, A Game for Rough Girls? A History of Women’s Football in Britain (London: Routledge, 2003), 35.

23 ‘Mustn’t train the girls: FA ban Jimmy Broad’, Chelmsford Chronicle, July 14, 1950, 1. For more on Broad, see Gary James, ‘The Sporting Broads: A Family’s Journey from Pedestrianism to Football’ in Pedestrianism, ed. Dave Day (Crewe: MMU Sport and Leisure History, 2014), 195–212.

24 ‘Ladies’ FA’, Northern Daily Mail, December 20, 1921, 5; ‘A Ladies’ Football Association’, Lancashire Evening Post, December 14, 1921, 2.

25 ‘English Ladies Football Association’, Staffordshire Sentinel, February 20, 1922, 3.

26 ‘Women’s FA dissolved’, Shields Daily News, December 23, 1931, 8.

27 Steve Bolton, (2021), ‘Guest Blog – Steve Bolton: The Pioneering Manchester Ladies’, https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/02/26/guest-blog-steve-bolton-the-pioneering-manchester-ladies-part-one/ (accessed June 1, 2021).

28 During 1988–1989 many prominent members of Corinthians left the club to join the newly established Manchester City team and the club folded, although it was resurrected the following decade for a while. See Gary James, ‘Establishing Women in Sports History: Manchester City Football Club’, Sport in History 40, no. 4 (2020), 435.

29 ‘East Kent girls to face challenge from Southampton’, East Kent Times, November 70, 1969, 14.

30 Sue Lopez, Women on the Ball (London: Scarlet Press, 1997), 56.

31 On 21 January 1970, the FA’s Denis Follows wrote to Arthur Hobbs at the WFA stating that the FA had agreed to allow women’s teams from playing on grounds under the jurisdiction of the FA in a recent council meeting. See Sue Lopez, Women on the Ball (London: Scarlet Press, 1997), 243, footnote 5.

32 Sue Lopez, Women on the Ball (London: Scarlet Press, 1997), 255; ‘Italian Job: When Competitive Women’s Football Meant Going Abroad’, When Saturday Comes, November 2020, issue 403.

33 ‘Al Fayed’s Millions Offering Equal Opportunities’, Sunday Tribune, November 26, 2000, 80; ‘Important Landmarks in Women’s Football’, Evening Herald, August 29, 2007, 84. Many of the women interviewed as part of ‘Women and football in Manchester project’, performed by Gary James since 2017, claim that participants in a tournament organised by Arsenal Ladies in August 1990 explained how they were recruited by Arsenal on the equivalent of Youth Training Scheme contracts. Documentary evidence has yet been found to corroborate this.

34 Tony Leighton, ‘Fulham Disowned in Final Fall from Grace’, Guardian, (2006), https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/may/22/newsstory.sport2 (accessed June, 1, 2021).

35 Alex Culvin, ‘Football as Work: The New Realities of Professional Women Footballers in England’ (PhD thesis, University of Central Lancashire, 2019), 3.

36 Ibid., 295.

37 Jess MacBeth, ‘Women’s Football in Scotland: An Interpretive Analysis’ (PhD Thesis, University of Stirling, 2004), 98.

38 ‘Football Freaks’, The Aberdeen Daily Journal, December 8, 1921, 4.

39 ‘Measures to Prevent Women Footballers’, The Herald, December 6, 1921, 3.

40 ‘Female Football Ban’, Scottish Sport, December 6, 1921.

41 ‘Women and Football’, Daily Record, December 5, 1921, 8.

42 ‘Eve Kicks Off’, Aberdeen Press and Journal, May 17, 1920, 3.

43 ‘Ladies’ Football’, Scottish Football Association, Minutes, January 23, 1924, Scottish National Football Museum Collection.

44 Scottish Football Association, Minutes, January 23, 1924, June 25, 1924 and March 11, 1925, Scottish National Football Museum Collection.

45 Fiona Skillen and Steve Bolton, ‘Women’s Football in Interwar Scotland: Sadie Smith and the Legendary Rutherglen Ladies FC’, (2021), Play Pasts, https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/womens-football-in-interwar-scotlandsadie-smith-and-the-legendary-rutherglen-ladies-fcpart-1/ (accessed March 28, 2021).

46 Fiona Skillen and Steve Bolton, ‘Women’s Football in Interwar Scotland: Sadie Smith and the Legendary Rutherglen Ladies FC: Part 2’, (2021), Play Pasts, https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/womens-football-in-interwar-scotlandsadie-smith-and-the-legendary-rutherglen-ladies-fcpart-1/https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/womens-football-in-interwar-scotlandsadie-smith-and-the-legendary-rutherglen-ladies-fcpart-2/ (accessed March 28, 2021).

47 Executive & General Purposes Committee, Minutes of Scottish Football Association, Sept 14, 1949. Scottish National Football Museum Collection.

48 Executive & General Purposes Committee, Minutes of Scottish Football Association, August 29, 1974, 64. Scottish National Football Museum Collection.

49 Sue Lopez, Women on the Ball: A Guide to Women's Football (London: Scarlet Press, 1997), 59.

50 Although there are very few written records for the SWFA in this period Karen Fraser has pieced together the developments from oral history interviews of those involved in the early administration. Karen Fraser, ‘Sisters Doing it for Themselves: The Rich History of Women’s Football in Scotland from the 1960s to 2020’, Sport in History 40, no. 4 (2020): 456–81, 461.

51 Executive & General Purposes Committee, Minutes of Scottish Football Association, August 29, 1974, 64. Scottish National Football Museum Collection.

52 Fraser, ‘Sisters Doing it for Themselves’, 460.

53 Fraser, ‘Sisters Doing it for Themselves’, 460–1.

54 Karen Fraser, Against the Run of Play, 73–128.

55 Fiona Skillen and Skillen Bolton, ‘Women’s Football in Interwar Scotland: Sadie Smith and the Legendary Rutherglen Ladies FC’, (2021), Play Pasts, https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/womens-football-in-interwar-scotlandsadie-smith-and-the-legendary-rutherglen-ladies-fcpart-1/ (accessed March 28, 2021).

56 Jennifer Hargreaves, Sporting Females: Critical Issues in the History and Sociology of Women’s Sport, (London: Routledge, 1994), 117.

57 Gibbs, ‘When Women’s Football Came to the Island’, 36.

58 Faller, ‘Part of the Game’, 60.

59 Alex Jackson, ‘The Pioneer of Women’s Football in Ireland’: A Brief History of Mrs Scott, Part One’ Playing Pasts, March 29, (2021), https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/the-pioneer-of-ladies-football-in-irelanda-brief-history-of-mrs-scottpart-on/ (accessed June 8, 2021).

60 Euro 2022 play-off second leg: Northern Ireland v Ukraine, BBC iPlayer, April 13, 2021.

61 Nicola McCarty, ‘Girls with Goals’, BBC Radio Ulster, Northern Ireland. December 26, 2020; The IFA papers are held at the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland and have restricted access; Lyric Theatre, ’Rough Girls’, https://web.archive.org/web/20210725141411/https://lyrictheatre.co.uk/event/rough-girls/ (accessed July 25, 2021).

62 Cormac Moore, The Irish Soccer Split (Cork: Cork University Press, 2015), 120.

63 Faller, ‘Part of the Game’, 62–3; Steve Bolton, ‘Molly Seaton – Ireland's Best: My Tribute to the Irish Legendary Irish Woman Footballer – Talented, Pioneer, Iconic Figure, Playing Pasts’, (2021), https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/molly-seaton-irelands-bestmy-tribute-to-the-legendary-irish-woman-footballertalented-pioneer-iconic-figure/ (accessed June 30, 2021).

64 Fiona Skillen and Steve Bolton, ‘Women’s Football in Interwar Scotland: Sadie Smith and the Legendary Rutherglen Ladies FC Part 2, Playing Pasts’, (2021), https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/womens-football-in-interwar-scotlandsadie-smith-and-the-legendary-rutherglen-ladies-fcpart-2/ (accessed June 30, 2021).

65 Steve Bolton, ‘Molly Seaton – Ireland’s Best, Playing Pasts’, (2021), https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/molly-seaton-irelands-bestmy-tribute-to-the-legendary-irish-woman-footballertalented-pioneer-iconic-figure/ (accessed July 5, 2021); Faller, ‘Part of the Game’, 64.

66 WFA Archive, British Library, MS 89306/1/3.

67 Wikipedia, ‘Northern Ireland Women's National Football Team’, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland_women%27s_national_football_team (accessed June 28, 2021).

68 Raf Nicholson, ‘Holding a Gun at Our Heads’: The Sports Council’s Role in Merger-Takeovers of Women’s Sport, 1985–2000’, in Gender Equality in UK Sport Leadership & Governance, forthcoming.

69 Euro 2022 play-off second leg: Northern Ireland v Ukraine, BBC iPlayer, April 13, 2021.

70 Gibbs, ‘When Football Came to the Island’, 41–4.

71 Helena Byrne et al., ‘Mapping Irish Football Project, 2019–2021’. (Crowdsourcing dataset of newspaper citations related to women and football in Ireland.)

72 Dundalk Democrat, May 30, 1896.

73 Drogheda Independent, ‘The “lady” Footballers’ May 30, 1896.

74 Drogheda Independent, ‘Some “new women” invade Drogheda’, May 30, 1896.

75 Helena Byrne, ‘Mapping Irish Women’s Football’, British Library Newsroom Blog, June 11, 2020. https://blogs.bl.uk/thenewsroom/2020/06/mapping-irish-womens-football.html (accessed June 28, 2021).

76 Moore, The Irish Soccer Split, 120.

77 The FAI Archive is held at the University College Dublin Archives and has restricted access that requires permission from the FAI.

78 Moore, The Irish Soccer Split, 182.

79 Northern Whig, ‘Bann on Lady Footballers’, 1925. Gerard Farrell, ‘Teatime Talks: “The makings of the people's game – Football in Dublin 1880-1970” with Gerard Farrell’, February 10, 2021. https://14henriettastreet.ticketsolve.com/shows/873623186?_ga=2.67977106.2052584797.1627228977-958629297.1627228977 (accessed July 25, 2021).

80 Personal Communication, Michael Kielty, May 12, 2021.

81 Evening Herald, ‘Dublin’s First Soccer Team’, May 25, 1927.

82 Moore, The Irish Soccer Split, 181–92.

83 Helena Byrne, ‘Where are we now?’ 9, 14; Helena Byrne, ‘Before it all Kicked off’, in 10 Years On, Gareth Maher (eds) (Dublin: Football Association of Ireland, 2020).

84 Byrne, ‘Before it all Kicked off’.

85 Eoin O'Callaghan, ‘“Football was her Life – It Was All She Ever Wanted to Do”: The Revolutionary and Unheralded Irish Icon’, The 42, January 27, 2019. https://www.the42.ie/anne-obrien-football-4458242-Jan2019/ (accessed June 28, 2021).

86 Ian Barrett, ‘Benfica Friends Finally Get their Caps after 44 Year wait’, Waterford Sport, April 6, 2021.

87 Emmet Malone, ‘Women’s Game still Hampered by Players Paying to Play’, Irish Times, January 28, 2021.

88 Conor Curran, ‘The Playing and Working Conditions of League of Ireland Footballers in a Part-time Professional Football Euro 2021 Host Nation: The Republic of Ireland’s League of Ireland’, Soccer & Society 22, no. 4 (2021): 343–54.

89 Email communication, FAI Women’s Football, July 13, 2021.

90 Cambria Daily Reader, March 16, 1894, 8.

91 Pontypool Free Press, September 11, 1896.

92 The Cambria Daily Leader, June 21, 1918 highlighted that the league which formed was assisted by male members of Swansea AFC with teams from Newport, Llanelli, Swansea and Cardiff.

93 Western Mail, April 29, 1918, The Llanelly & County Guardian, May 2, 1921, and Merthyr Express, May 10, 1921.

94 Cambria Daily Leader, May 7, 1918, 1.

95 Welsh FA Minute Books, Item 1117, March 3, 1922.

96 ‘Famous Team Plays at Cardiff for Charity’, Western Mail, March 30, 1921, 9.

97 ‘May 29th, could be Soccer Emancipation Day for the Women of Wales’, Liverpool Daily Post (Welsh Edition), May 23, 1970 article by Cliff Moss relays full quote of Rule 34.

98 FAW minute book, August 29, 1939.

99 ‘Beaten But Not Dismayed’, Barry Dock News, June 2, 1949.

100 Patrick Brennan, ‘The Dick, Kerr Ladies' FC’, www.donmouth.co.uk/womens_football/dick_kerr.html (accessed July 1, 2021).

101 The South Wales Echo, October 12, 1932.

102 Merthyr Express, April 22, 1933.

103 Various Wales international programmes from 1973 including reference made by Ceri Stennett (FAW Match Press Officer)’The Story of Women’s International Football in Wales’ from March 26–March 30, 2006 Wales v Moldova/ Wales v Israel programme as well as confirmation from former players Michele Adams, Gaynor Jones (nee Blackwell) and Gloria O’Connell.

104 From two separate interviews with Eleri Roberts (nee Griffith) and Mai Griffith (2018 and 2017) explaining how they would watch their much older brother’s play, Peris played for Gwydir Rovers of Llanrwst, Eleri was inspired from the age of 4 years old, Mai mentioned watching the 1966 World Cup on TV and wanting to play on kick-abouts with her friends and sister.

105 Interview with Grey Philips on July 8, 2018 along with various clippings from his scrapbook to confirm the WFA would pay his expenses, nothing was paid from the FAW.

106 Confirmed by Grey Phillips interview July 8, 2018 and media cuttings sent to me from his scrapbook South Wales Echo, November 28, 1972, Port Talbot Guardian, December 15, 1972 & Port Talbot Guardian, December 29, 1972 with 3 more cuttings paper and dates unknown.

107 Diane Ashton, ‘INSIGHT’, Rhyl Journal & Prestatyn Advertiser, July 20, 1978 ran a feature stating ‘Football fanatic with an eye on the World Cup and with twelve Welsh Caps to her credit’ had an interview with Mai Griffith who was waiting for confirmation that Wales would be able to play in the World Cup in Italy, also confirmed by Gloria O’Connell and Karen Jones from Newport and Cardiff who also recalled the media attention towards the World Cup in Italy. Mai confirmed that the Italian players were on £200 each to win the Tournament, Wales were purely amateurs.

108 In 1978 Wales were beaten 3-0 Belgium and 7-0 Italy in Pescara, Tony Sully Manager and Bill Davies both from Cardiff recruited by Ida Driscoll WWIF CEO for the Tournament, 1979 Sweden 3-0 and 2-0 Netherlands in Rimini Sylvia Gore Manager (both tournaments not acknowledged by UEFA or FIFA).

109 Patricia Gregory was the Secretary with the WFA and recalls meetings with the FAW including Alun Evans FAW General Secretary to discuss possible handover of administration of women’s football prior to the WFA folding.

110 12 teams from South Wales U16’s Afon Lido, St.Mellons, Inter Cardiff, Cheltenham, Swansea, Bryntiron, Tongwynlais, Aberavon, Kingsbridge (Swansea) Colts, Cwmaman, Neath & Newport Strikers with transport costs to be funded by FAW from Karen Jones (Cardiff City Ladies) scrapbook, dated 1994.

111 WFA Archive, British Library, MS 89306.

112 Ibid., MS 89306/2/37.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fiona Skillen

Dr Fiona Skillen is a senior lecturer in History in the Department of Social Sciences, in the School for Business and Society at Glasgow Caledonian University. Her research interests concern modern history, in particular aspects of sport, gender and popular culture. She is particularly interested in women's sport during the late 19th and 20th centuries and has published extensively in this area including her monograph Sport, Women and Modernity in Interwar Britain (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2013). She is a former Chair of British Society of Sport History, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and an editor of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

Helena Byrne

Helena Byrne is a librarian who specializes in web archiving as well as an independent researcher that focuses on the history of women's football in Ireland. She has also documented the early history of the indoor football leagues in County Louth, that were phenomenally popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These leagues were the gateway that led to the development of contemporary women's soccer and Gaelic football teams in the region.

John Carrier

John Carrier is an independent researcher into the evolution of women`s football both domestic and international having written various articles for inclusion of Cymru international programmes about the past, as well as Black History month for 2020, JJ Heritage contribution on Sylvia Gore download article on Llay United Ladies team of 1948 for SheKicks magazine, contributor to the S4C programme Laura McAllister: An Equal Game November 2022. Forth coming book “No One Listens Until The Ground Shakes” including back stories from players, managers into the evolution of women`s football in Cymru (Wales). E-mail: - [email protected] Twitter: - johncarrier7.

Gary James

Dr Gary James is an Honorary Research Fellow at De Montfort University. Since the 1980s, he has been researching the origins and development of football, publishing frequently throughout that time. His current project is documenting the history of female involvement and participation in football within the Manchester region. One of the first outputs of that project was the acclaimed Manchester City Women: An Oral History, published in 2019 and described in an Oral History Society review (by Fiona Cosson, April 2021) as: ‘a model for writing engaging narrative-led oral history.’ James is the founder of the International Football History Conference.