Tonight is the Euro football finals and England are in the final again and I’m hoping this time we can go all the way! Football has for a long time been seen as a very masculine sport but in the last decade women’s football has gained in popularity and is getting the coverage it deserves, but women’s football is not a new thing! It’s been around nearly as long as men’s football.
The British Ladies Football Club was formed in 1895 by Alfred Hewitt Smith and captained by Nettie J Honeyball (thought to be a pseudonym). The squad had two teams which they named North and South. Much of the curiosity surrounding the British Ladies Team focused on what exactly they would wear to play football.
Instead, the issue of dress was approached rationally. Shirts were loose fitting to allow for movement, but conservative in that they covered the body to the wrists. Instead of impractical dresses the team wore knickerbockers – a baggy short-trouser that was tucked into long socks.
The knickerbockers, though controversial in that they were essentially a trouser, were flowing and baggy enough to remind spectators of a skirt. On top of this the women wore shin pads for protection and caps on their heads throughout the matches. During world war 1 the men’s league was suspended and women’s team took over playing at their stadiums instead, and became extremely popular.
This popularity continued after the war. One of these matches, played at Goodison Park, Liverpool on Boxing Day 1920, attracted a crowd of 53,000, with another 10,000–15,000 reportedly turned away because the ground was full. Sadly Some saw women’s football as a threat to the men’s game and it was banned officially from 1921 to 1971! Luckily it has returned now stronger than ever!
Much of the press coverage from the time mentions the expectations of women’s dress and the impracticalities of playing football without being seen as displaying oneself indecently. The focus on dress seemed to be two-fold, both in outright disgust at the practical garments on display and a fetishisation of the women wearing less constrictive clothes than usual.