MANCHESTER CORINTHIANS

Manchester Corinthians Ladies F.C. was a leading English women's football club of the 1950/1960s.

The Manchester Corinthians "Ladies" Football team was founded in 1949 by Percy Ashley, principally so that his daughter, Doris, could play. Their home ground was at Fog Lane Park in Didsbury, although it had such basic facilities that players had to take post-match "wash downs" in a nearby duck pond. Ashley chose the team name as a homage to the Cornthian Football Club, the men's amateur football team from London, famous for their sporting ideals. Sadly, the Corinthian spirit during the early days of Womens' Football did not exist at the Football Association, who had made it quite clear that Women should not play football and gave no financial or social support. All this, of course, has changed as England's Women's football now thrives.

The team proved immediately popular and successful and by 1951 had won the Southern Cup, Manchester Area Cup, Sports Magazine Cup, Roses Trophy, Midland Trophy, Cresswell Trophy, Odeon Championship Trophy, Belle Vue Trophy and The Festival of Britain Championship Trophy. The team won the large majority of its matches and often racked up large margins of victory. In 1957, in order to have more local opposition to play, Ashley set up a second, linked, team, The Nomads, which was effectively the club's second eleven. 

In 1957, the team toured Portugal, then completed in the International Football Association, organised European Cup, where it beat a team representing Germany. During the tournament, the famous German goalkeeper, Bert Trautmann, acted as the team's interpreter. This tour proved the first of many, the longest being a 12-week tour of South American, where one of the squad, aged 14 years old, had to turn down and offer of marriage, and the Caribbean in 1960. Some matches attracted crowds of tens of thousands, and large amounts were raised for charity. The South Americans loved the football and the ladies! They have toured in Tunisia, Italy and France. To enable these tours to run smoothly, many of the girls gave up their regular jobs.

There were games between "England" and Germany in Berlin and Stuttgart in 1957 played in front of crowds of 40,000 and above. There were many games where the women of legendary pioneering team Manchester Corinthians represented England in international competition in the 1950s to 1970s. The match in Berlin saw the Corinthians, playing as England, win 4-0 in the final of a European championship. These games are not officially recognised as full internationals unfortunately, but no one should underestimate the achievements of those Manchester women who took part. .

Margaret "Whitty" Whitworth (below) had joined the club as an 11-year-old in 1958 and was fourteen when she travelled to South America. Her parents had to give permission band of course, some of the women also gave up their jobs for the opportunity of representing Manchester – and England – on the tour. Whitty was quoted as saying: “What a great experience for us all! The stadiums… the reception from the crowd… it was all incredible but we all just took it in our stride. It’s only afterwards that you look back and realise how significant it all was.”

Percy Ashley died in 1967, and the team was gradually eclipsed by newer clubs. It won the first "Deal" International Tournament, in 1968, and took part in an international tournament in Reims in 1970, beating ACF Juventus 1–0 in the final. It also won the Women's FA Teddy Gray Memorial Challenge Trophy in 1968 and 1969, losing in the final in 1970. In June 1970 Corinthians were one of the 44 clubs to be represented at the WFA's inaugural annual General Meeting. It then joined the Three Counties League. However, by the end of the decade, it had declined.

Below, the "Friends of Fog Lane" meet at the site of their pitch and in view of the home of Percy, to decide where a plaque should be erected to commemorate the Corinthians.

The Corinthians won a host of tournaments and trophies over the years and in 1970 Whitty was player of the tournament when they found trophy success at Reims in France. 

Margaret Shepherd, nicknamed Tiny due to her height (she was a tall central defender!), remembers the excitement of that trip and the celebrations that followed the victory over Juventus in the final: “It was a great experience and the celebrations were so special.” For Jan Lyons the post-final activities included her first taste of champagne: “I thought it was a type of lemonade. I kept drinking and drinking but the next day my head was sore! Photos were taken of us at the airport but we did feel bad. Some wore dark glasses to hide the effects.” The club survived through several managerial changes into the 1980s, with some of the later team members going on to become players with Manchester City’s women’s team in its inaugural season of 1988-89. By that time the FA had relinquished its ban and women’s clubs, leagues and competitions grew. International football was finally sanctioned but it was the work of the pioneering Corinthians in the 1950s to 1970s that had led the way internationally. They promoted the sport globally at a time when the FA stubbornly refused to accept that women could play football. On Saturday it would be nice if the FA finally recognised the work of these pioneering Mancunian women.

Today is regarded as National Football Day. Soccer seems to be included!