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From The Archives: A Woman's World

Mon, 15/06/2020 - 21:47

Many thanks to the Glentoran Supporters Committee (1923) for use of this article by Roy Downes on Glentoran Women's teams through the years.

As I write this article the Women's World Cup has reached the last 16 stage, but I wonder like me, having read so many positive things about women's football, especially Glentoran Women FC did you find yourself switching on to BBC for any of the matches?  Ahead of the tournament, FIFA said it expected the 2019 Women's World Cup to reach more than a billion viewers! A record 62 broadcasters are said to be present in France.

On Sunday the 7th June, along with 6.1 million others I sat down to watch the England v Scotland match and I was not disappointed. However despite a great second half fight back, the Scots went down 2 -1. New VAR rules had cost Scotland an early penalty. When first introduced I thought VAR would be a good thing, but now I'm not so sure. This was the most watched women's game of all time. Again it was a last minute VAR decision that snatched victory away from Scotland in their game v Argentina.

This obviously was not the first time that a Scottish Women's International match had taken place against England but believe it or not, one took place before Glentoran FC was founded.  On the 7th May 1881 the first of an 'unofficial' series of matches took place between the two sides at Easter Road, Edinburgh. According to the Edinburgh Evening News the Scottish team was mostly made up of Glasgow and District factory girls.  They were attired in blue jerseys, with a crimson sash around the waist, knickerbockers and blue and white hose. A badge with two Union Jack flags was sewn on the jerseys. The England team, who were mostly from the London area wore crimson jerseys with a blue sash, white knickerbockers, crimson and white hose and had a lion rampant badge on their jerseys.  

Approximately 1000 spectators witnessed the match, mostly out of curiosity.  The game judged from a player’s point of view was a failure, but considering the players had only been in training for a fortnight, several of the individual members of the teams showed that they had a fair idea of the game.  Scotland proved to be the victors by 3-0.

On the 12th June the Scottish team travelled down to England for a return match at Windhill, Yorkshire and once again beat England 3 -0.  However this being Victorian Britain the women footballers did not meet with universal approval. A correspondent writing to the English Boston Times wrote, “I have known damsels who were accomplished cricketers, good rowers, and admirable lawn-tennisonians, but I am inclined to think that football, with its violent scrimmages, is too tough a game for girls to indulge in”.

In June 1895 a touring Ladies Football team came over from England to play an exhibition match at Solitude. On the 20th June the Northern Whig reported “We saw the latest development of the 'new woman' last night in Belfast in the visit of the lady footballers. It was not an ordinary football crowd that filled every one of the many corners and crannies of the Cliftonville ground”.

                                                 

As the First World War progressed more and more women began to play football. Working in munitions factories they began to be invited to join men in kick-abouts during their lunch breaks. Women then decided to form teams and play charity matches to raise much needed war funds. The most successful of these teams was a factory team formed at Dick Kerr & Co, a locomotive and tramcar manufacturer. On Boxing Day 1917 a team of munitioners from Tyneside came over to Belfast to play a munitioners “international” against Northern munitioners in aid of war charities. The English girls won 4-1. The Dick Kerr Ladies came over to Belfast in 1921 to raise funds for local hospitals.

With the war over, a nation tried to put itself back together again. Munitions factories closed and women found themselves quietly shunted back into domestic life. Football was no longer considered to be a health benefit for women. A leading female Harley Street physician described the game as “most unsuitable, too much for a woman's physical frame”.

In 1921 the F.A placed a ban on women's football – a knee-jerk reaction to its popularity as the women's game was drawing large crowds in opposition to the men's game. This ban was not to be lifted until 1971. However women's teams continued to play and raise funds for worthwhile causes. On the 17th June 1931 an Owen O' Cork team played a Belfast Ropeworks Ladies team with proceeds going to the Oval Pavilion Fund. A Glentoran Ladies team formed in the 1950s played several friendlies with 5000 turning up for a match against Ballywalter.

                          

On the 26th November 1976 the inaugural meeting of the NI Women's Football Association was held in the Post Office Youth Club in College Square North. At the meeting the formation of the League was discussed, including its constitution. Initially it was agreed that games should be played 35 minutes each way, subsequently changed to 45.  The 1977 season kicked off with 3 divisions of six teams. In 2016 the Women's Division 1 was re-branded as the Women’s Premier League.

                                      

As I write, this June has been a great month for our Premiership side Glentoran Women. It began with Rachel Rogan becoming the first ever winner of the NIFWA Player Of The Month after scoring 15 goals across three competitions. Then Nadine Caldwell, Emma Higgins, Jessica Foy and Demi Vance were called up by Kenny Shiels for his squad’s training camp in preparation for the Euro 2021 campaign. Then to top that the Glentoran Women rose to top of the Women's Premiership thanks to a 7 -0 win over Derry City.

Those pioneers of women's football could never have imagined that their sport would reach the unprecedented heights that we are witnessing in 2019.