A History of Two Halves (And How Women's Football Finally Won)

This is me. Christmas 1996.  Try telling this 9-year-old that in thirty years’ time, they won’t even follow their beloved West Ham United, let alone play football.  At nine, I was playing regularly, with the boys, and had posters from Match magazine plastered all over my claret-and-blue bedroom walls.  Then puberty hit and I wasn’t allowed to play with the boys anymore.  My school didn’t have a girls’ team and my options for playing for fun dwindled until I drifted away from football completely.  I’ve told this story many times before, but it’s worth telling again, if only because that 9-year-old probably wouldn’t believe what I witnessed on Sunday night either. And because, thanks to those girls and women who – unlike me – kept fighting for their right to play, the story of women’s football in this country has changed forever.

Let’s start at the beginning.  Well, not right at the beginning, because the roots of football as a game, and women’s role in it, are a little too complex and disputed for this blog to address in one post. (Perhaps another day?) Let’s start at the beginning of the “modern” game in England: 7 May 1881. The first recorded women’s football match.  England play Scotland (though there’s some controversy over the true nationality of the players) and Lily St Clair scores the first goal, making her the first ever recorded female goal-scorer.  Scotland win 2-0.

 

Following this, the popularity of the women’s game continued to grow during the 1880s and 1890s, with many teams – as with the men’s game – being formed from factory workers.  There were strong ties between women’s football and the suffrage movement too, with female footballers offering women a chance to disprove the argument - often wheeled out to oppose the idea of giving them the vote - that women were in some way physically inferior to men.

 

During World War I, with many men away fighting, women’s football really came to the fore.  This was the era of superstar winger Lily Parr, who played for Dick, Kerr’s Ladies (named after the Preston munitions factory they worked in) and scored over 900 goals during her 30-year career. By 1921, there were some 150 women’s teams, with games often drawing crowds of around 50,000 (more than many men’s matches).

But, of course, men couldn’t allow matters to continue this way.  When women returned to the domestic sphere after the war ended, some critics became more vocal in questioning the impact of football on women’s health, and, on 5 December 1921, the FA announced a ban on women playing at professional grounds, or, indeed, the grounds of any club affiliated to the FA, stating that "the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged."  The ban would remain in place for the next fifty years.

Yet women did not take it lying down.  On 10 December 1921, 30 teams formed the English Ladies Football Association (ELFA) and women continued to play throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s.  New clubs were set up and teams played at smaller grounds or on rugby pitches instead.

Throughout the 1960s, as women began to demand more rights in all areas of life, pressure mounted for the ban to be lifted.  However, the decade was nearly out before, on 1 November 1969, representatives from 44 clubs attended the first meeting of the Women’s Football Association (WFA).  At a meeting of the FA Council on 19 January 1970, the FA voted to rescind the ban, but it wasn’t until 24 June 1971 that, at the FA’s AGM, the amendment was finally implemented, allowing women to legitimately play again.

 

In the years that followed, there were many firsts.  Southampton won the first Women’s FA Cup in 1971.  The first official WFA England team played Scotland in 1972 (England won 3-2, for anyone who’s keeping score).  1984 saw the first UEFA competition for national representative women’s teams.  In 1991, a 24-club national league was founded and the same year introduced the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup.

 

Things were certainly looking up for the women’s game in England.  The WFA had been brought under the umbrella of the FA during the 1993-94 season and, in 1998, the legendary Hope Powell was made the first full-time coach of the women’s team.  The Women’s Euros came to England in 2005 and, although England failed to make it out of the group stage, fans flocked to the games in their replica shirts.  Four years later, the FA introduced central contracts, which meant women could begin to make a career out of football, though their salaries of £16,000 may seem laughable today.  The Women’s Super League (WSL) was launched in 2011, but wouldn’t turn fully professional until 2018.

 

Probably one of the most important moments though, for England’s women, was the appointment in September 2021 of Sarina Wiegman as head coach.  Wiegman had won the 2017 Euros with her native Netherlands (who had roundly beaten England 3-0 in the semi-final) and her success was set to continue: England have lost just seven of the 47 matches they have played since she took charge.

 

Roll on 2022, and the Covid-delayed 2021 Euros.  This was the tournament that rekindled my passion for football.  I hadn’t watched a match in years, but somehow, I got hooked again, and was rewarded with seeing England win in the final at Wembley.  European Champions.  Incredible.  The victory had a huge impact on the women’s game.  Salaries in the WSL went up and attendance at WSL games increased 267%.

Fast forward two years, and I’m watching in agony as England lose to Spain in the World Cup Final.  And now, onto 2025, and I’m watching in joy as England reach their third major final in a row – and win, again, becoming the first English football team to retain a title and win a trophy on foreign soil.  The manner in which they won may have received criticism from some quarters, but for me, it makes it all the more inspirational: the self-belief and resilience of this team means they may have been down at times, but they were never out.  The players are now household names, their successes celebrated in the mainstream media; women’s football is now televised as a matter of course.  Everything has changed.

My school has a permanent girls’ team now.  So do all the other schools in the area.  So do all the local grassroots clubs.  But there is still work to be done.  Girls are still less likely to kick a ball around at playtime (don’t even get me started on gendered footwear for schoolchildren), but the doors are at least open to them should they want to use them. Sometimes it’s a challenge to convince the kids to put down the Ronaldo book and pick up the Bronze one, but at least she’s on the shelf.

 

Chloe Kelly celebrates her winning goal
agains Italy. The supreme confidence of this
woman is truly refreshing.

For those humbugs grumbling about all this fuss over ‘just a game’, a note on the serious side.  Even if you’re not an elite sports star, we all know how beneficial regular exercise can be, for both your physical and mental health.  Yet, despite this, there are some shocking statistics around the participation of girls and women in sport.  61% of teenage girls feel judged when taking part in sport; 84% report losing interest after their period starts.  And it’s not just in the teenage years – it starts earlier too.  49% of girls aged 5 to 11 take part in a team sport, compared to 70% of boys.  I see the impact of this every day.  Girls are bombarded from the earliest age with the message that strength, fitness and competitiveness are not feminine traits.  It is both incredibly damaging and concerning.  (On a side note, the timing of all three of England’s finals taking place in the summer holidays has made it harder to capitalise on the success in the classroom in an effort to challenge stereotypes around sport.  As well as inspiring girls, creating allies amongst the boys is just as important and just as much of a battle.)

I don’t watch men’s football anymore but I follow the women avidly, and try to enjoy the England women’s success without too much bitterness.  I probably wouldn’t have ended up playing football professionally, but I would have liked the chance to find out.  However, I do celebrate that there is now a generation of girls who can find out; who have a team full of incredible role models to look up to; women who have shown the grit, determination, physicality and confidence that girls are so often encouraged not to display.  Long may it continue.

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References and further reading:

https://www.thefa.com/womens-girls-football/heritage/kicking-down-barriers

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zjp8jsg

 

https://www.thewomensorganisation.org.uk/history-of-womens-football/

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/articles/zbdjvk7

 

https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/Legacy/History

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66533140

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-33064421

 

https://womeninsport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SportStereotypes-and-Stolen-Dreams_exec-Summary.pdf

 

https://womeninsport.org/resource/reframing-sport-for-teenage-girls-tackling-teenage-disengagement/

 

https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/article/menstrual-cycle-impact-on-physical-activity

Horrible, funny and accurate: how Horrible Histories continues to inspire new generations of historians

This might seem an odd moment for this post.  There is no anniversary or special occasion to mark.  I was just suddenly struck one Sunday afternoon by my overwhelming gratitude and appreciation for a BBC children’s TV show by the name of Horrible Histories.

My childhood collection of HH books

I grew up on Terry Deary’s books, but was too old to be in the target audience for the TV show when it first arrived on our screens in April 2009.  I happened to stumble on it when I was doing a spot of research on the Magna Carta (yes, really), but it was when I became a primary school teacher ten years ago that I really began to see its value.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve wheeled out a Horrible Histories sketch in a history lesson.  As history lead at my school, when other staff ask for guidance on their planning, more often than not, I’ll point them in the direction of a Horrible Histories clip or song to hang the rest of the lesson on.

The earlier series of Horrible Histories purposefully didn’t make any attempt to tie-in with the English National Curriculum and instead focused on bringing the content of the books to life and making history fun for kids.  (A job at which it overwhelmingly succeeded.)  “Terry told us three key rules for Horrible Histories,” Richard Bradley, executive producer, told the Guardian in December 2018.  “It must be horrible, funny and accurate.”

 

Even though it doesn’t neatly tie-in with the curriculum, much of it is covered, from the Stone Age to World War II and beyond in British history, as well as the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, plus a smattering of additional world history.  Could it do more to depict the diversity of world history?  Undoubtedly; but so could our National Curriculum.  We as teachers (and subject leads) need to ensure that children are exposed to as varied a coverage as possible, as well as instilling in them the critical understanding that historical knowledge – and interpretation - can change over time.  Horrible Histories, with its irreverent approach to the past and emphasis on history’s most bizarre stories, wherever they may come from, is certainly mindful of this.  Yes, the show heavily features world leaders, principally British monarchs, but it also highlights the lives of ordinary people, especially children.  It’s social history, made relevant to today’s young people and expertly brought to life.  (It does occasionally get things wrong too, which I make sure to point out: look, guys – always question your sources!  A valuable lesson for any budding historian.)

 

Some historians love Horrible Histories; others denigrate it for dumbing down or oversimplifying history.  I would argue that those historians in the latter camp have never had to stand in front of a class full of primary aged children and keep them engaged.  Kids love poo because it’s hilarious (if you don’t still find poo funny as an adult, I’m deeply suspicious).  In fact, they love bodily functions in general; they love gruesome stuff, weird stuff, violent stuff (within reason) – and if you can get all that into a history lesson, they’ll remember it forever.  At a time when primary schools are judged on knowledge retention more than ever, that’s the golden ticket. I have taught Year 4 classes about the Romans many, many times and I can guarantee that the one thing they’ll all remember about the Romans by the time they get to Year 6, is that they wiped their bums with a sponge on a stick.

Education aside, Horrible Histories is incredibly funny too, by the way.  Yes, there are poo and vomit and fart jokes, but it’s also a pretty damn sophisticated sketch comedy show. The bulk of the cast of the first five series went on to create beloved BBC sitcom ‘Ghosts’, which gives you an idea of the calibre of the acting.  It is the only children’s show to win a British Comedy Award (along with a whole slew of other awards) and was presented with a BAFTA Special Award in November 2024, in recognition of its “extraordinary cultural and social impact and the joy, enrichment and hilarity it continues to bring to people of all ages since its inception fifteen years ago on CBBC.”

The parody songs are also works of genius, with brilliantly clever lyrics and catchy rhymes (Can you imagine it?  I’m the last Plantagenet being one of my absolute favourites).  In fact, I love the songs so much that I made a playlist of them, in chronological order, and gifted them to my historically-challenged (but HH-loving) friend, along with a booklet of background notes I hand drew.  Dedication, right?

I will admit to being biased towards the first five series, though I know it has its problematic elements.  Several of the sketches wouldn’t be made today – or certainly not with white actors – but the show has grown and changed and diversified.  It can challenge the status quo and often angers the right - which probably means it’s doing something right - from the refreshingly Empire-critical ‘British Things’ song, all the way back in 2009, to its British Black History episode in 2021.

 

I’m not suggesting that primary teachers should deliver history lessons entirely via the medium of Horrible Histories, but if you need a hook to start a lesson, a quick conclusion to consolidate learning, or to deliver a difficult concept in a more captivating way than standing at the front and droning on, go for it.  My core belief is that a well-planned and delivered history curriculum should, above all, leave children curious about the past.  If they’re hooked on history, they’ll go away and find out more, and surely that’s what we should be aiming for as educators?  The times I’ve been handed pages of notes researched at home about figures from history, or seen a child choose a history book as their reading book, or been told that history is their favourite subject – those are the times when I know I’ve done my job right.  And Horrible Histories will always play an important part in that.

 

If you’re a primary school teacher, I say stick on Horrible Histories and let it do its job of creating curious young historians.  If you’re not a teacher, stick it on, learn a little and have a good old laugh at the same time.  You won’t regret it.

~

Two of my favourite sketches for answering key historical questions:

 

How did Britain change during the Stone Age?

How did World War One start?