From the Lionesses’ victory at the 2022 Euros to the widespread coverage of last summer’s Women’s World Cup, the last couple of years have seen plenty of landmark moments in women’s football.

And today, we’ve seen the sport take yet another step forward when it comes to accessibility, with the government announcing a new £30m fund for grassroots women’s football in partnership with the FA. The fund, aptly called ‘The Lionesses Future Fund’, will provide approximately 30 new 3G pitches and facilities at sites supporting women’s and girls’ teams across England.

Every one of these sites will also have reserved peak-time slots, women and girls-only evenings and priority booking for women’s and girls’ teams to drive participation numbers. Each of the facilities will also have dedicated female changing rooms, shower facilities and accessible toilets.  

Speaking about the fund, England’s Women’s World Cup captain Millie Bright said the team were dedicated to ensuring their success over the last two years drove change off the pitch.

“One of our collective biggest motivations and core values is for females across the country to have equal opportunity,” she said. “We are really pleased to see the commitment towards this funding and the promise that this will be prioritised for the growth of women’s and girls’ football so whatever the motivation to play, there is a safe and accessible area for females to go to.”

The fund was announced during a Lionesses training session at St George’s Park – the home of England’s national teams. Speaking to BBC Sport after the announcement, England defender Lucy Bronze said the team was “super excited” to hear the news.  

“After the Euros and the World Cup, we wanted to create a legacy,” she explained. “Having success as a team means we can push the game forward, not only at the professional level but all the way down and give back to young girls things we may not have had when we were growing up.”

She continued: “I remember my first game, I had to get changed on my own because the only changing room was used by the boys. We want women to thrive, to be confident and having those facilities and accessibility will make a huge difference.”

As Bronze’s comments highlight, the journey to get to a place where women’s football is funded, celebrated and respected has been a long one. Before 1970, it had actually been banned by the Football Association (FA) for decades – while England didn’t establish a fully professional women’s league until 2018. 

Our focus may primarily be on what the future has in store for the Lionesses and Women’s Super League (WSL), but looking back allows us to appreciate just how long and varied the history of women’s football in the UK has been – and how far the game has come. 

So, to celebrate the 2023 Women’s World Cup, we thought we’d take a look back at the history of women’s football in the UK, from the first football teams to the fight for equality.

Women in the UK have likely played football for centuries: what’s believed to be the oldest football ever discovered was found in Mary Queen of Scots’ chamber at Stirling Castle. According to the FA, the first recorded women’s football match took place in Edinburgh in 1881, when a ‘Scotland’ women’s team played ‘England’ – although there is debate about whether these teams were made up of real athletes or actors.

However, women’s football really took off in the UK following the establishment of the British Ladies’ Football Club in the mid-1890s.

Captained by Nettie J Honeyball, managed by Alfred Hewitt Smith and patronised by Scottish writer, war correspondent and feminist Lady Florence Dixie, the club initially attracted around 30 women who trained together twice weekly. It was then split into two teams – north and south – that began to play against each other.

The first match, one of the first officially recorded women’s football games in the UK, took place in March 1895 in Crouch End, north London. Around 10,000 people gathered to watch the north and south teams play against each other, with the north team taking home the win with a 7-1 score.

The club then went on tour, and goalkeeper Helen Matthews formed an offshoot team known as Mrs Graham’s XI after a disagreement with Honeyball. The first known Black woman’s footballer, Emma Clarke, also joined Matthews’ team.

However, after some initial success, the strain of playing ended up taking its toll on the British Ladies’ Football Club. Insufficient funds ended up leading to the club’s disbandment in 1897. 

Following struggles to get the women’s game established, the early 20th century saw a rise in interest from players and supporters alike.

During WW1, as many women in Britain took on traditionally ‘male’ jobs to help with the war effort, more and more turned to football to maintain their health and wellbeing and escape from stress. Munitions factories even developed their own teams, leading the way for the Munitionettes’ Cup, which was established in 1917.

The most famous of the factory teams was Dick, Kerr Ladies, founded by a munitions factory in Preston, Lancashire, to raise money for wounded soldiers. They attracted around 10,000 spectators to their first game at Preston North End’s Deepdale ground on Christmas Day 1917, raising around £600. The team changed its name to Preston Ladies FC in 1926 and played around 800 matches in total before disbanding in 1965 due to a lack of players.

Some argue that Dick, Kerr Ladies was the UK’s first professional women’s football team, as players were paid 10 shillings (50p) to cover their expenses. One such player, Lily Parr, is believed to have scored over 900 goals during her 30-year career, and became the first woman to be inaugurated into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in 2002.

During this time women’s football also received support from the FA, with ticket sales donated to the war effort. Teams were allowed to use men’s league grounds while their matches were suspended due to the war.

The height of this period was a record-breaking match at Goodison Park in Liverpool on Boxing Day 1920 between Dick, Kerr Ladies and St Helens Ladies. Some 53,000 spectators watched the game, with over 10,000 turned away at the gates.

However, it wasn’t all plain sailing. There were ongoing questions over whether it was appropriate for women to play football, and critics of the women’s game were increasingly vocal despite the crowds drawn in by matches. As working-class women were forced out of the factories and back to low-paid and domestic work post-WW1, the future of women’s football didn’t look as bright as it once had. 

Following discussion about the suitability of football for women, the FA announced a ban on the women’s game on 5 December 1921. The ruling meant women were unable to play at professional grounds and pitches affiliated with the FA.

“The game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not be encouraged,” a statement from the organisation read.

The ban was devastating for women’s football, but it didn’t stop players engaging in the sport. On 10 December 1921, 30 teams from across England met in Liverpool to establish the English Ladies’ Football Association, which aimed to “popularise the game among girls and assist charity”.

Women continued to play all over the UK, too, although there aren’t many official records from this time. But when the women’s liberation movement took off in the late 1960s, more and more women started to push for greater rights for women in all areas of society, including sport.

This paved the way for the first meeting of the Women’s Football Association (WFA) in November 1969, which saw representatives from 44 clubs come together. The FA came under increasing pressure to lift its ban on women’s football – leading to a vote on the issue that finally took place in January 1970. At long last, the ruling was rescinded. 

With official league matches now permitted, the first FA Women’s Cup took place in 1971. Southampton was the first club to claim the trophy, lifting it another eight times in the tournament’s first 11 years.

The first official WFA England team travelled to Scotland for an international match in November 1972, which England won 3-2. The match took place exactly 100 years after the first recognised men’s international match, also between Scotland and England.

Throughout the 1970s and 80s the women’s game continued to grow both in the UK and abroad, with the first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place in China in 1991.

By 2002, football had become the top participation team sport for women and girls in England, leading the way for the progress we’ve seen play out over the last two decades. 

There is still plenty of work to be done to bring the women’s game to the same level as the men’s game, but the amount of progress that’s been made since the FA ban was lifted in 1970 is truly exciting. If one thing’s for sure, we can’t wait to see what’s next for women’s football.

Images: Getty