STIFF SHIRTS TO WINNERS' MEDALS

November 30th (St Andrew's Day) 1872, was the date of the first EVER international match between Scotland and England, played at Hamilton Crescent, Partick. Actually the first international match full stop!! The score? 0-0....diplomatic eh? It was the only 0-0 result between the two until 1970. The published team sheets, began with the outside-forward, working back to the goalkeeper. In this game the Scots used a different goalkeeper in each half, Barker and then Maynard! Confused.com??

The 1991, on the same date, was when the United States Women's team beat Norway 2-1 to win the first ever Women's World Cup in front of 65,000 fans at the Guangshou's Tianhe Stadium. USA striker, Michelle Akers, scored a late winner. In England women had been banned from playing football  at   official League Grounds in the 1920s because the "stiff shirts" at the FA decided it was not a ladylike pursuit. The ban was lifted in 1971 and since then the England Womens' team have largely mirrored their male counterparts achieving very successful pursuits in World competitions.

In the first half of the 20th century there were matches which were promoted as “England” but were not a national side as accepted today. Once the Women’s Football Association (WFA) became established in the 1960s it co-ordinated the activities of various regional leagues, set up a national cup competition and in 1971/72 the first official England side. The inaugural match was played on 18 November 1972 against Scotland in Greenock with a final score of 3-2 - goals by Sylvia Gore, Lynda Hale and Jeannie Allott for England, and for the Scots, Mary Carr and Rose Reilly.  The first England captain was Sheila Parker from Chorley in Lancashire and the first manager former professional footballer and an FA senior staff coach, Eric Worthington! Who else!!?? In the early days, funds were in short supply and consequently, England activities were  confined to Europe, for several years, particularly against the other home nations, with England beating Scotland and Wales in the only Home International tournament played during the WFA years. The first official England international to be played on the ground of a Football League club was on 9 November 1973 at Reading FC and on 31 October 1978 at Southampton’s former ground, The Dell. The Women's FA recorded an attendance of 5,471 against Belgium – at that time a record crowd. In September 1981 England accepted an invitation from the Japanese FA to play against Japan and Denmark in Kobe and Tokyo. Italy also made the trip but England did not play them on that occasion. Japan was exercising a little long-term planning with their sights set on improving their national women’s team. It paid off with them winning the World Cup in 2011. During the 1980s the Mundialito was organised in Italy each summer with England winning it twice – the first in 1985 and the second in 1988. The 1988 victory also brought the accolade to England as  “Team of the Year” at the inaugural Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year awards. The international governing bodies started to take a serious interest in women’s football with UEFA creating the UEFA Competition for National Representative Women’s Teams, in 1982. This was the forerunner of the European Championship, which England won in July 2022.In the 1984, two-legged final, England were beaten on penalties by Sweden. England trailed by a single goal after the Gothenburg first leg, but Linda Curl scored at Luton Town FC, to take the match into extra-time and the penalty shoot-out. In the 2009 Final, a silver medal was the reward when England lost to Germany 6-2. As the saying goes “revenge is a dish best served cold” and England’s moment came at Wembley in July 2022 with their 2-1 win over Germany to become European Champions. That was repeated in 2025, when the Lionesses defended their crown at the UEFA Women's EURO in Switzerland, after a penalty shootout victory over Spain in the Final!! Good girls! and more good history since.