Lionesses’ Legacy

With the 2025 Euros starting soon, I wanted to take a trip down memory lane to talk about the growth of Women’s football for England—the trials, tribulations and the immense celebrations too. I hope you read it and feel inspired, as I have been researching it.

Kick off:

Since the Renaissance Era, with Mary, Queen of Scots supposedly owning the first football, the women's game has grown and grown. On May 7th, 1881, the first recorded women’s football match was between a supposed ‘Scotland’ and ‘England’ side. The validity of the sides was questioned as some players were believed to be from the theatre community! Throughout the 1890s, community teams grew in popularity, many made up of women working in the factories. This was enhanced during the First World War as sports were encouraged for factory workers to improve their health, wellbeing, morale in the factories and productivity. The most successful of these factory-based teams was Dick Kerr & Co. For 48 years, they played a total of 800 games, winning a huge 746 of them. The country’s best goal scorer at the time, Lily Parr, played for this team, scoring an estimated 900 goals in 30 years. Historically, this team is seen as the first ‘professional’ women’s side, and players were paid the equivalent of 50p for their expenses. As we can tell, the beginning of women’s football got off to an amazing start, bringing in thousands of spectators and solidifying the game for women. Unfortunately, it doesn’t continue up from here…

The Denied:

For 50 (ish) years following 1921, it was a dark time for Women’s football. On 5th of December 1921, The FA announced a ban on the women’s game from being played at the professional grounds and pitches of clubs affiliated to The FA, stating “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.” Not quite the early Christmas present anyone wanted! The women’s game was only to be played in public parks, but this did not stop them! 

On the 10th December 1921, the English Ladies Football Association (ELFA) was born, set up to popularise the women’s game and assist charities. A year on, the first and only ELFA Challenge Cup was held. Although overshadowed by the men’s game, women carried on playing football throughout the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, using smaller grounds and rugby pitches. 

The ban was not the only piece of bad news during this period. In 1947, a referee was suspended for working as the manager of the Kent Ladies Football Club at the same time. This was supposedly because ‘women’s football brings the game into disrepute.’ Through every step back, women pushed forward, starting up more and more teams, until eventually, they saw light at the end of the tunnel.

The Revived:

The 1970s through to the 2000s saw significant growth for the women’s team. In 1969, the Women’s Football Association was established to restart official competition. In 1971, UEFA recommended that the women’s game should be governed by national associations across Europe. The FA made their announcement on recognising The Women’s FA (WFA) on 29 February 1972. In November 1972, the first official WFA England team came against Scotland for an international match, winning 3-2. This match came 100 years after the first recognised men’s international match between the same sides. Although the ban lifting was a historical moment in time for women’s football, opportunities for women to represent England internationally were few and far between, with only 25 matches played in 6 years. 

Progress continued following the lifting of the ban. 1991 saw the first WFA national league with 24 clubs, and 1998 welcomed the first full-time England coach, Hope Powell. In 1991, the WFA was passed over to the FA due to a lack of funding. The FA established a Women’s Football Committee and with it the full-time post of Women’s Football Co-ordinator. FIFA introduced the women’s World Cup in 1991, seeing a sold-out stadium and a 90,000 crowd at the final in the USA in 1999. It is safe to say that this period saw dramatic growth for the women’s game. By 2002 in England, it had become the top participation team sport for women and girls. This hit the FA’s target three years earlier than they had expected. This has grown and grown in the following years.

Lifting the Trophy:

The years between 2010 and 2020 were monumental for women’s football. There was significant focus on encouraging young girls to get into the game, providing them with opportunities to see their potential. In 2013, the FA, Sport England, The Premier League and The Football League Trust launched their first joint national participation programme for girls’ football. 

The FA set out a formal strategy called The Gameplan for Growth, for women’s and girls’ football in England in March 2017. Their three goals were double participation, double the fanbase and consistent success in international matches. The success of this strategy was astronomical, with one million girls (aged 5-15) and 1.9 million women (16+) playing football in England. 

As well as this strategy, a three-year plan was put in place in October of 2020, Inspiring Positive Change. One key aim of this was to give every school-going girl the same access to football as boys.

Of course, the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 is one for the history books. Winning in front of 87,192 people at Wembley Stadium firmly established the women’s game, particularly as it came on the 50th anniversary of England Women. As well as the extensive media coverage and interest in the game, over 400,000 new opportunities for girls and women have been created to engage in football activities.

Inspiring the Next Generation:

I have enjoyed researching and learning about the history of the women’s game. What inspired me to write this blog was the upcoming Euros and thinking about moments that have stuck out to me over the last few years. I have two inspiring points I would love to finish this blog by talking about. 

Firstly, Nike did not make Mary Earps’ goalkeeper shirt available to buy. Earps won best goalie of the year in 2022 and won the Golden Glove at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, yet no one could buy her shirt. In August 2023, Nike said that they understood why people wanted to buy a goalkeeper's jersey and that they were "working towards solutions for future tournaments, in partnership with FIFA and the federations”. They acknowledged "the fact that there's a conversation on this topic is testament to the continued passion and energy around the women's game, and we believe that's encouraging.” There were many comments on social media from people disappointed and outraged about not being able to purchase this shirt. A fan of Earps, 16-year-old Emmy, started her online petition to ask Nike to "rethink their decision”. The petition received 70,000 signatures of support and was a key factor in Nike changing their decision and deciding to make the goalkeeper jersey available to buy. This shows how much young girls are looking up to these players and is a credit to the resilience of the women’s game. 

Secondly, Ella Toone has launched her football academy to give back to the community of Tyldesley for helping her on her football journey. She said: "It's something I've always wanted to do. I'm big on giving back to where I've come from, and I always think about the grassroots team and how I would not have got anywhere near here without them."I want to do something for my community and use my platform as best as I can to help young girls and boys start their journeys. With ET7, there are a lot of things that are coming that I'm excited about. Hopefully I can give back to people, from where I'm from and around the world.” Toone was recently on ITV News. She talked about the academy, how they train twice a week and that it is also being brought into schools to talk about football for girls in schools. 

These are just two of many examples of how the Lionesses have changed the face of women’s football. We can’t forget where it all began and how hard the first female footballers worked to fight for the game and for the future of women’s football. 

Full time:

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog. Researching the history and the journey to what we know as women’s football today was interesting and inspiring. I am excited to watch the Euros this summer. Despite the couple of shock dropouts from the squad, it is exciting to think about the new generation of footballers that will make their way into the game and hopefully make a difference.