DICK, KERR AND FODEN

 From "early stages" women had to fight for their football "equal rites" and on December 5th 1921, the FA banned women's teams such as the famous Dick, Kerr Ladies (above), who were not allowed to use "men's football pitches". The Manchester Guardian, regarded as free thinking, published in its editorial; "If there is any real desire to have women football teams, the action of the FA can hardly put an end to the forming of them, nor can it prevent the teams from acquiring grounds of their own. But if it does discourage the playing of football matches by women as a public spectacle, there will be no tears shed on that score". 

Women's football did mobilise itself, creating the short-lived English Ladies FA five days after the FA ban. However, the Women's game had been dealt a savage blow from which it took decades to recover.

After the Second World War, women's football gradually became accepted and in 1957, the International Ladies FA organised a European Championship, which was won by the Manchester Corinthians. By 1969, 44 women's clubs formed the WFA and within two years, the FA Council had lifted the ban of forbidding women from playing on FA Affiliated clubs' pitches. 

In May 1971 the first womens' cup final took place at The Crystal Palace Sports' Centre between Southampton and Stewarton Thistle (from Scotland), a 4-1 win for Southampton. Up to 1980-1, Southampton had been in 10 finals, winning 9 of them. Their only defeat was against "Foden", the works team Edwin Foden Sons and Co. based in Sandbach. In its early years, the team played friendly matches, including one in 1963 against Preston Ladies FC, by which time it already included players who did not work at Foden. In 1966, at a match against Cheshire Ladies Jeannie Allott, played her first match for the club, at only ten years old. The same year, the club toured Northern Ireland, playing three charity matches there. The truck and bus company...not the young Man City star!

The team's first regular competition was the Butlin's Cup, which "Foden" won in 1969 and 1970, leading them to be described as the British champions. They also entered the 1969 Deal International Tournament, losing to Manchester Corinthians on the final day. Several of the team members played in the first England women international match.

In 1970, the Foden team was a founding member of the North-West Women's League. The club continued to play throughout the 1970s, including tours of the Netherlands and Belgium, playing until 1989.

On February 28th 1972, the FA Council and the WFA agreed to recognise the "game". In November 1972, 51 years after Dick, Kerr Ladies (the English team) had played an unofficial international match against France, winning 2-0, the first official international was against Scotland, which ended in an England win 3-2.

In 1991, the WFA launched a 24 team national league, the same year that FIFA staged the inaugural Women's World Cup and within two years the sport was under the auspices of the Football Association!!

BY THE WAY Sandbach is perhaps best known as the original home of Foden and ERF lorries, though neither company now exists in the town; twelve-times National Brass Band Championship winners were Foden's. 

The local football club is Sandbach Utd an "FA Charter Standard Community Club" which has over 40 teams and 600 players aged from 5 through to veteran.