FROM LADIES TO WILDCATS

If you have been a loyal reader of this outstanding and modest blog, you will have read about Dick, Kerr Ladies before (the comma is meant to be there). Women's football exploded during during World War One, a trend that showed no signs of lessening aftet the War finished. A spectacle of Dick, Kerr's Ladies and St Helens FC attracted 55,000 to Goodison Park on Boxing Day 1920, nearly one hundred years ago.

So there was an international against the French attracting 25,000 and in 1921, the Ladies attracted nearly a million spectators, a genuine mixture of male and female, young and old, during their next 67 matches. The men became rather jealous of this success and club committee men all over the country were concerned that the Ladies would overtake the Men in popularity.  

In 1921, Newcastle Utd refused to let the women play a match at St James' Park, despite previously hosting one for the War Charity, attracting 35,000 and raising over a quarter of a million pounds. The FA was cocerned that previous Dick, Kerr matches had been played raising money for striking miners who were locled uot of their pits when privatsation took over in March 1921. Clearly Women's football could attract a lot of attention and money, something the FA were "jealous" of.

The FA by all accounts produced a "smear campaign" accusing the Ladies of fidlling expenses and cheating charities. Doctors apparently were producing evidence that women who played such physical sports would not be able to have children safely. Even the Guardian wrote that "Football is much less suitable to women as an exrecise than lacrosse or hockey". 

On December 5th 1921, The FA used these pieces as evidence to ban women from playing the game and banned them from using men's pitches and facilities. They said "The game is unsuitable for women and outht not to be encouraged".

Five days later 25 ladies from Blackburn founded the English Ladies FA, despite the game taking decades to recover and the FA did not apologise for their "slight" until 2008. This is what was said......

On 5th December 1921, the Football Association issued the following statement: Complaints having been made as to football being played by women, the Council feel impelled to express their strong opinion that the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged. Complaints have been made as to the conditions under which some of these matches have been arranged and played, and the appropriation of the receipts to other than Charitable objects.

The Council are further of the opinion that an excessive proportion of the receipts are absorbed in expenses and an inadequate percentage devoted to Charitable objects. For these reasons the Council requests the clubs belonging to the Association refuse the use of their grounds for such matches.

This measure removed the ability of women to raise significant sums of money for charity as they were now barred from playing at all the major venues. The Football Association also announced that members were not allowed to referee or act as linesman at any women's football match.

Some supporters of women's football welcomed the decision of the FA. "Football Girl" wrote a weekly column in the Football Special Magazine. She wrote: "Women's footballers have at last been roused to the necessity of organisation if they are to carry on, and the F.A. ban, having made us independent of outside bodies, has given us the additional impetus that will probably make us organise ourselves far more thoroughly than we should have done if we had been in a half-and-half situation, neither definitely sure of having F.A.'s assistance and yet to a large extent relying on it."

The first meeting of the English Ladies Football Association (ELFA) took place at Blackburn on 10th December 1921. At this time there were approximately 150 ladies' football clubs in England. The representatives of 25 clubs attended the initial meeting. This rose to 60 at the next meeting held in Grimsby. The ELFA issued a statement that argued: "The Association is most concerned with the management of the game, and intend to insist that all clubs in the Association are run on a perfectly straightforward manner, so that there will be no exploiting of the teams in the interest of the man or firm who manages them." The ELFA introduced its own set of rules and regulations. This included reducing the size of the pitch. It was also decided to use a lighter football, a change that was eventually adopted by the Football Association. Referees of women's matches were also given "greater powers concerning the use of ball skills rather than brawn".

ELFA also made a rule that any club that became affiliated to the ELFA would not be allowed to play against a team that was not a member. It was believed that the best way of making ELFA strong was to make it difficult for non-members to find matches. ELFA also took measures to stop a club like Dick Kerr Ladies from developing again in the future. Alfred Frankland had obtained the best players by persuading them to play for his team. ELFA therefore decreed that no woman was to play for a club that was more than twenty miles from her home. The measure did a great deal to encourage clubs to develop local talent. Look at it now......

https://www.thefa.com/womens-girls-football and check out the Hepworth United FC Ladies section and Wildcats on the club website.