The British Ladies' Football Club

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I became interested in the subject of women's football during my research into football on Tyneside during the Great War, when I first encountered the Munitionette teams. This prompted me to look into the earliest accounts of the game in England. I soon discovered that apart from the excellent book by David Williamson¹, very little information was available, and an internet search simply returned many rehashed versions of the same, in some cases inaccurate, material. Upon consulting contemporary sources I discovered that considerably more information did exist, and decided to publish the results of my researches on this site for anyone who might be interested in a more detailed account.

I am grateful to William Cawley for details of the match played at Leek on 25th October 1895, and to Steve Peart for details and photographs of the match played at High Wycombe on 11th November 1895.

The staging of this event was a personal triumph for a young lady with the delightfully appropriate name of Miss Nettie Honeyball. Inspired by the spirit of the age, she had founded, in late 1894, the British Ladies' Football Club. It was a time when educated women were still hoping to achieve equal rights by force of argument, and had no doubt been encouraged by the granting, in 1893, of voting rights to all adult women in New Zealand. The direct action campaign of the Women's Political and Social Union under Emmeline Pankhurst was still a decade in the future.

She placed advertisements for like-minded ladies, and succeeded in getting together a group of about 30 playing and 20 non-playing members. They were refused permission to practice at the Oval, but with the assistance of Charles de Lyons Pyke they gained access to the Nightingale Lane enclosure at Hornsey^*, adjacent to the Alexandra Park racecourse. Their first practice matches here were not entirely successful, and exposed them to a fair amount of ridicule, but with twice-weekly practice and coaching from J.W. Julian, the centre-half of Tottenham Hotspur, their skills and knowledge of the game began to improve. The pitch was laid on heavy clay, and throughout the winter of 1894-95 it was never free from mud, but despite this Nettie Honeyball proudly claimed that she had never known any of the girls shirk practice. Her determination, and powers of persuasion, also resulted in Lady Florence Dixie² agreeing to become the President of the club, on condition that "the girls should enter into the spirit of the game with heart and soul."

* The location of Nightingale Lane was sometimes described as Crouch End, and sometimes as Hornsey.

The club's activities attracted the attention of the Press from the very beginning; as early as October 1894 The Sketch published the following frivolous cartoon purporting to represent how the lady footballers would appear and behave.

Nettie Honeyball was an enigmatic character; very little is known about her, and we do not know for certain whether this was her true identity. Click here for a discussion of this intriguing question

Nettie J. Honeyball

Her motives in founding the club were set out in an interview published in The Sketch on 6th February 1895: "there is nothing of the farcical nature about the British Ladies' Football Club. I founded the association late last year, with the fixed resolve of proving to the world that women are not the 'ornamental and useless' creatures men have pictured. I must confess, my convictions on all matters, where the sexes are so widely divided, are all on the side of emancipation and I look forward to the time when ladies may sit in Parliament and have a voice in the direction of affairs, especially those which concern them most."

One major issue they had to confront was the question of deciding on a suitable dress code. Victorian London might have been ready (just) for women's football, but it was not yet ready for women in shorts. They settled on a more modest, if cumbersome, combination of voluminous blouses together with knickerbockers or a divided skirt. A fisherman's cap with a tassel completed the ensemble.

A practice match at Hornsey - February 1895

By March 1895 the club members were ready for their first public exhibition. Posters advertising the game were widely distributed³, and on the allotted day, March 23rd, ten thousand people made their way to Nightingale Lane, where they were more accustomed to see their local team take on the likes of Tottenham Hotspur. The game was preceded by a match between Crouch End and the 3rd Grenadier Guards, and the ladies did not kick off till nearly quarter to five, when their two teams, designated "North" and "South" took the field wearing all-red, and light and dark-blue outfits respectively⁴.

The ladies were overwhelmed by the size of the crowd, and embarrassed at appearing in public in their knickerbockers, and confessed afterwards to having been overcome by nerves. This manifested itself in the standard of their play, about which the reporter from The Sketch was scathing:

This reporter did, however, have a good word for two of the players on the North team; the goalkeeper, who had travelled from Glasgow, and played under the pseudonym of "Mrs. Graham," ⁵ and the left winger Miss Gilbert, a diminutive person whom some of the crowd decided was a boy and nicknamed him/her "Tommy". Their efforts almost certainly contributed to the North team's winning margin of seven goals to one. The quality of the play was probably poor, but the crowd nevertheless enjoyed the spectacle, and according to another report in The Graphic, "At the close of play the teams were escorted to the pavilion and heartily cheered by a large crowd."

The following photographs of the teams appeared in The Sketch; they should not be taken too literally as the names do not correspond exactly with the teams give in Lloyds Weekly Newspaper. There are other discrepancies. For example Fenn appears in both pictures, and Miss Gilbert does not look anything like a young boy.

The North team
standing: Lily Lynn, Nettie Honeyball, Williams, Edwards, Ide
seated: Compton, F. B. Fenn, Nellie Gilbert, P. Smith, Rosa Thiere, Biggs

The South team
standing: ?, Clarke, A. Hicks, Edwards, Clarence
seated on bench: Hicks, Lewis, Ellis, Lewis
seated on ground: Eva Roberts, Fenn

The Crouch End match is generally held to be the first organised women's football match in England under Association rules. This is not strictly true; women's teams had existed as early as the 1880's.⁶ It was, however, the first game to be played in such prestigious surroundings, and witnessed by such a large crowd.

The event opened up a debate on which sports and pastimes were suitable for ladies. Lady Jeune ⁷, a prolific writer for London-based periodicals, proposed a practical answer; she would allow ladies to engage in all sports which permitted the wearing of the petticoat. In her opinion hunting, riding, skating, gymnastics, golf, lawn tennis, billiards, and possibly cycling, were the exercises that women "might indulge in with profit and pleasure."

The debate was the subject of comment throughout the country, and as far north as Tyneside, where an article in the Sporting Man was surprisingly sympathetic. After observing that Lady Jeune's strictures would effectively disbar women from swimming, the author continued:

The Jarrow Express published a more typical, and critical comment on the affair, accompanied by a rather amateurish cartoon, in which "Tommy" gets a mention:

Further north, in Scotland, it would appear that some ladies had been so inspired as to take the field themselves. On the very day that the British Ladies F.C. stepped out at Crouch End, the West Lothian Courier reported that a farmer in Bathgate had offered to let out his field - "for the benefit of lady footballers only." This prompted a reader to pen a few lines of doggerel on the subject of the "New Woman".

Following their baptism of fire at Crouch End the members of the British Ladies' Football Club took to the road, performing at a number of venues throughout the country. On 6th April 1895 they participated in a Charity Festival of Football at Preston Park in Brighton. The event was organised to raise funds for local medical charities, and despite a blustery wet afternoon, around 5,000 spectators turned up, paying 3d per head to gain admission. In addition to the ladies, the day's events also included a boys' match between Brighton and Woolwich, the Brighton Charity Cup Final between Brighton Athletic and Hove, and a rugby match between Brighton and Wickham Park. The ladies' teams were designated North and South as before, and played in the same Red and Blue colours. The teams, according to The Argus were as follows: North:- Rosa Thiere, goal; Nettie Honeyball and Lily Lynn, backs; P. Smith and F.B. Fenn, half-backs; Ruth Coupland, Edwards, Nellie Gilbert and Daisy Allen, forwards; South:- Clark, goal; Eva Roberts and M. Ellis, backs; Clarence and E. Potter, half-backs; F. Clark, Flo Hunt, A. F. Lewis, Mrs Kembell and A. J. Lewis, forwards. "Little Tommy" once again provided much of the entertainment, being more agile in the slippery mud, and showing a greater degree of skill than her teammates. Despite the South having the advantage of an extra player the North were superior, scoring their first goal within three minutes, and were 5-2 up at half-time. The second half was a nightmare for the South's goalkeeper; she delayed too long in clearing on one occasion and was charged into the net, and soon followed that up by putting the ball into her own net, to the delight of the crowd. The score at the final whistle was North 8 - South 3.

On 13th April 1895 they played at Gigg Lane, Bury, but were beset by organisational difficulties; only 14 of the 22 players turned up, and after an hour's delay, during which the 5,000 growd waited patiently, they played an eight-a-side game (two male players, Wally Holland and J.H. Edwards were persuaded to serve as goalkeepers). The teams on this occasion were; Reds:- (Mr) Holland, goal; Gilbert and Lynn, backs; Smith, half-back; Compton, Edwards, Thiere and Allen, forwards; Blues:- (Mr) Edwards, goal; Honeyball and Lewis, backs; Hunt, half back; Roberts, Graham, Lewis and Clarence, forwards.

Allen opened the scoring for the Reds, shortly followed by Edwards, but Graham clawed one back for the Blues. In the second half Thiere scored a third goal for the Reds, and Graham scored her second goal for the Blues, when, as the Bury Times put it, "Miss Lynn was unfortunate enough to mistake her own goal for her opponents and so equalised the scores; the game finished with a draw of three goals each." As in their first game, the crowd nicknamed the left winger for the Reds "Tommy," and the match report identified her as "Daisy Allen, a little sprite of four feet." The proceeds of these games were in aid of charity, and for this match at Bury the gate receipts were in excess of £100.

Easter week saw the ladies saddled with a busy schedule. On Easter Monday, 15th April 1895, they played a morning fixture at the Caversham ground in Reading. A large crowd had turned up to watch, and according to the Berkshire Chronicle, the takings eclipsed the previous record, set on the occasion of a visit by Luton Town. One hopes that the weather was fair, as the spectators were kept waiting for a full hour after the appointed time. The party was lacking four players, and they resorted to the solution previously employed by recruiting two young men to play in goal. The South had much the better of the play in the first half, but it was the North who scored the only goal of the game through centre-forward Rosa Thiere. "Tommy," and Mrs Graham were once more singled out for showing a greater degree of skill than the rest of the players. The referee for this game was a Mr. Honeyball, presumably a brother of Nettie. In the afternoon the teams played again, this time at Maidenhead, but only the score, a 4-4 draw, was reported.

The following day the club journeyed to Bristol, where they performed at Ashton Gate, the home of Bedminster FC⁸. As at Reading, there was not a full complement, the Reds fielding ten players and the Blues nine, and once again two young men served as goalkeepers. The reporter for the Bristol Times and Mirror was not impressed by the skills on display, observing that, "if a ball came at any speed the back was sure to miss it, and of course charging was out of the question." He made one exception though, in the case of Daisy Allen, whom he described as a plucky little youngster, "who charged her bigger companions with great courage, and showed by her play that she had mastered the rudiments of the game, which could not be said for all." On this occasion "Tommy" was given a new nickname by the Bedminster supporters - "Scottie," after their local hero Scottie Milne. Two halves of thirty minutes each were played, during which time the Reds scored twice and the Blues, whose star players were the Misses Lewis in the forward line, five times.

Other venues during this period included New Brompton (date unknown) and Walsall (17th April). A further match was scheduled for 18th April at Maze Hill, Greenwich, the home of the Royal Ordnance FC. A crowd of 3-4,000 had assembled at the ground to watch the game, but a telegram was received a few minutes after the appointed kick-off time which read; "Crouch End 5.13pm. Storm raging here. Must scratch - Honeyball." A committee meeting of the Royal Ordnance club was hastily convened, and a telegram was despatched to Nettie Honeyball seeking an explanation and a new date for the fixture. No reply had been received by noon on Friday 19th April, when a second telegram was sent, which also failed to elicit a response. According to the Kentish Mercury, Mr. G.R. Wagstaffe, the Secretary of the Club, then wired the secretary of the New Brompton Club where the ladies were performing the next day, and on learning of their arrival back in London, he confronted Nettie Honeyball at the station. She referred him to the Manager, Alfred Hewitt Smith, who was obliged by the forceful Mr Wagstaffe to sign the following undertaking in front of witnesses:

The affair was not yet settled however; Thursday May 2nd was after the beginning of the close season, and the Football Association would not sanction the game. Yet another telegram was sent to Nettie Honeyball, this time by Mr. C.O. Pook, the club's solicitor, advising that unless the ladies played at Maze Hill before the end of April legal action would be instituted. This brought an immediate response, offering Monday, April 29th as an alternative date.

Surprisingly, this incident escaped the attention of the national newspapers, being reported only in the local press and the satirical magazine Fun, which carried a brief reference in its issue of 7th May.

The account in the Kentish Mercury contains an inconsistency, which may simply be due to an error on the part of the reporter. The BLFC was not performing at New Brompton on Saturday 20th April; they were in fact appearing at St. James's Park, Newcastle upon Tyne. The populace of the city had been eagerly awaiting their visit for some time, the Daily Chronicle having jumped the gun and announced the visit would be likely to take place on 6th April. This led to the Newcastle United office being bombarded with enquiries, and a notice was placed in the Sporting Man on 10th April to advise that tickets would not be sold in advance, but the gates would be opened early in view of the interest.

The format for the occasion was the usual; the club provided both teams, designated Reds and Blues, and the match, watched by 8,000 spectators, was staged as an exhibition event. As a warm-up to the main entertainment a match was played between two teams from the Newcastle Schools' League, and the Gateshead Borough band gave the obligatory musical interlude before the main event.

The reporter for the Sporting Man devoted most of his account of the game to a description of how the teams were dressed.

The reporter had interviewed the brother of Nettie Honeyball, who was responsible for the organisation of the tour, and from him learned that the youngest player was only eleven years old. This can only have been Daisy Allen. As to the play itself, he observed, "extreme carefulness would seem to be the rule, the movements of the various players being undertaken very gingerly, reminding many of the manner in which players picked their way over a field of ice during last winter." As at Crouch End however, despite the gentleness of the play, the spectators "were in wondrous merry mood and were thoroughly delighted with the spectacle." At the close of play the Reds were victorious by four goals to three.

From Newcastle the teams travelled south again with a hectic schedule ahead of them; on Monday 22nd April they performed at Barley Bank, Darwen, Lancashire. The report in the Northern Daily Telegraph gave little information other than the facts that the crowd was in the region of 1,000, and the game was played in torrential rain. The North, in red, defeated the South by two goals to one. On Wednesday 24th April they appeared before a crowd of 3,000 at the Intake ground in Doncaster. As at Newcastle, the local press seemed more interested in the players' attire than in the game. The North team was reported as wearing red quartered shirts while the South wore blue quartered shirts. Both teams wore dark blue knickerbockers, apart from four players who donned short skirts and one, Miss Edwards, who appeared in a white shirt and straight blue knickers, which the Doncaster Gazette considered, "the simplest and most effective costume on the field." In a reference to the current fashion for tightly-laced corsets it went on to report that the players "seemed to have discarded - at least on the field - those modern abominations in the way of clothing by which women distort the graceful form which nature has endowed them with and impair their physical vigour and health."

The press were also obsessed with the sex of "Tommy." Ever since the match at Crouch End, there had been speculation that "Miss N. Gilbert," also known by the pseudonym "Daisy Allen," was actually a boy. After the match at Doncaster one of the spectators got close enough to the players to put the question, "Is the little 'un a girl?" He received the enigmatic answer, "Yes, he is." A few days later Lloyds Weekly Newspaper claimed to have put the issue beyond doubt, reporting that "Tommy" was the 13-year-old son of one of the players, whose real name was Richardson. Despite this, "Tommy" continued to appear as Daisy Allen, and was invariably referred to as a young girl in subsequent match reports.

The teams stayed overnight in Doncaster following their appearance, and the next morning set off for Newark. The rain fell incessantly during the day, and when they took the field at Newark Town FC there were only 1,000 spectators in attendance to witness North defeat South by 3 goals to 2. The following day, Friday 26th April, they appeared before a crowd of 2,000 at Harlaxton Road, Grantham, the home ground of Grantham Rovers. The match was a tame affair, ending in a 1-1 draw. The punishing schedule continued; the next morning they set off on a long train journey to Burnley, where they were only able to field two teams of nine per side owing to injury or fatigue. They travelled straight from the station to the Turf Moor ground, and played 40 minutes each way before a crowd of 2,000 before they were able to adjourn to the Bull Hotel for something to eat.

Bramall Lane was the intended venue for a match early in May, but the F.A. Council meeting at Crystal Palace on 20th April advised Sheffield United that "it was contrary to rules that the Lady Footballers should play on their ground in May." This was probably when the Royal Ordnance Club also learned that close season matches would not be sanctioned.

The postponed affair at Greenwich finally took place on the appointed date, Monday 29th April, and resulted in a 2-2 draw. 4,000 spectators turned up to watch "Tommy" put in another star performance. Following the game the teams must have been rushed to the station for the overnight train, as they were due to commence a tour of Scotland the following day. On Tuesday 30th April they appeared before what was described as a "contemptuously good-natured crowd," of 5,000 spectators at the St Mirren ground in Paisley. The result was Reds 3, Blues 0. The next day the club performed at Murchiston Park, Falkirk, the home ground of East Stirlingshire FC. 3,000 spectators turned out to witness the South team defeat the North by two goals to one. The crowd on this occasion seemed more tolerant; the Falkirk Herald reporting that "no discourtesy was shown the 'new woman'". 24 hours later it was the turn of the capital, and a reported 6,00 spectators witnessed the Reds defeat the Blues 1-0 at Logie Green, Edinburgh, home of St Bernard's FC. The following Saturday the ladies performed at Springvale Park in Glasgow, the home of Cowlairs FC, one of the founder members of the Scottish League. A crowd of around 5,000 saw the Blues win by two goals to one.⁹

The progress of the tour was haphazard; from Glasgow the club travelled south again to Yorkshire, making appearances at the Sheaf House Ground, Sheffield, on 6th May, Valley Parade, Manningham, Bradford on 7th May, and Meanwood Road, Leeds on 9th May. The first match resulted in a 3-1 victory for the Blues, with their centre-forward Lewis getting a hat-trick, while the following two matches were drawn, the first 0-0 and the second 2-2. The Leeds Mercury was not impressed by the standard of the play in general, though it did have a good word for "Tommy," who scored two goals for the Reds in the third game. This latter game was also distinguished by one of the Blues, who "created quite a sensation by heading a ball in the most approved fashion."

Unbelievably, a visit to Sunderland was squeezed in between these two games; on 8th May the ladies turned out at the Blue House Field, Hendon, the home of Sunderland Nomads. The Sunderland Echo carried a report of the game, and listed the teams as follows: Reds: L. Lynn, Clark, Hudson, N. Hudson, Vernon, P. Smith (?), Daisy Allen, N. Gilbert, Edwards, R. Coupland; Blues: Mrs Graham, E. Clarke, Fenn, Oliphant, Yates, Wellburn, F. Clarke, Bird, R. Thiere, Yates. "Tommy opened the scoring," said the Echo, "with a shot that would have put any of the League champions to shame," (the League champions that year being Sunderland AFC). In the second half however the Blues put on a better show, and finished the game 2-1 ahead. Both teams had only 10 players, and a notable absentee was Nettie Honeyball.

Demonstrating the capabilities of the Victorian railway system, the club visited Exeter on 13th May, putting up at the Half Moon Hotel, and before an appreciative crowd of 1,500 the Reds defeated the Blues by three goals to two. The Western Times remarked that "financially and as a spectacle the visit of the ladies to Exeter appears to have been a decided success."

The club headed northwards once more, and on Saturday 18th May the teams performed at the Mowbray Road ground in South Shields, before a crowd of about 1,000. The weather was poor, with a freezing wind blowing across the ground, and this contributed to the low attendance. In an uneventful game the Reds defeated the Blues by three goals to one. A further match was played on the following Monday at Feethams, Darlington, but the score was not reported in either the Northern Echo or the Darlington and Stockton Times, though the former did carry the following acerbic observation:

Following this the club ventured into Scotland once more, staging a match at the Victoria Bridge ground in Aberdeen on 25th May. Once again "Tommy" was the focus of attention, and the crowd of 6,000 nicknamed her mother, who played at centre-forward, "Charlie". The Reds won 1-0 thanks to a goal from "Charlie". On 27th May a 1-1 draw was played at Links Park, Montrose. The Evening Telegraph commented on the goalkeeping of Mrs Graham who, it stated, was a native of Montrose. Two days later, on 29th May, they turned out at Balhousie Park, Dunkeld, Perth, where the Blues won by 3 goals to one.

Manchester was the next stop on the tour, and 3,000 spectators assembled to watch them at Broughton Rangers FC on 1st June. The game ended in a 2-0 win for the South team, and after the match a half-mile foot race was staged between two of the players - Miss Montrose of London and Miss Taylor of Liverpool. Miss Montrose was given a three yard start (how significant would this be over a half-mile?) and "won easily," but she fainted after the race.

During the Whitsuntide holiday the ladies performed at Falcon Cliff, Douglas, Isle of Man. This was a large hotel and pleasure grounds of the type favoured by the Victorians, offering promenade concerts, dancing, and a variety of performing artists. On Whit Monday a crowd of some 2,000 were entertained by a match which was reported as a 3-2 win for the Reds in The Manx Sun, and a 3-3 draw in The Isle of Man Times. Both agreed however that the star players were "Tommy," the scorer of two goals, and the Blues' goalkeeper, who was unnamed, but was presumably "Mrs Graham." The teams played again on the following day, before another good gate, but regrettably the score was not reported in any of the local newspapers.

Returning to Liverpool, they played a nine-a-side match at the Stanley Athletic Grounds, which ended in a 2-1 win for the Reds, before continuing their westward journey. On 19th June they appeared at Cliftonville before 6,000 spectators. The report of the game which appeared the following day in The Belfast Newsletter revealed that Daisy Allen, known as "Tommy", was the daughter of Nellie Gilbert, centre-forward of the Reds team. ¹⁰ Following the game, which the Reds won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Daisy Allen, the crowd surged onto the pitch and cheered the ladies as they drove to the Shaftesbury Hotel. Once there, the referee addressed the crowd, and thanked them for the best reception the team had received in all the towns they had visited during the previous four months.

The report also stated that the team would leave for Dublin on 20th June, but their plans appear to have changed subsequently. On 21st June an advertisement appeared in The Belfast Newsletter announcing "At the request of several prominent footballers in Belfast, a Grand Match will be played between a team of the Lady Footballers and a male team of the North End Juniors at Cliftonville Grounds, Saturday June 22nd." Only 3,000 spectators turned out for this match, which was preceded by a "Reds" v "Blues" match between the ladies themselves, which the Blues won 1-0. The match against the male team was not a serious affair; the men scored twice in the first twelve minutes, and thereafter the game was reportedly played almost entirely in the ladies' half. Towards the end the ladies scored two goals themselves to equalize. Following the match a 120 yards flat race was staged for the women, which was won by Florence Clarke, with L. Yeates and Daisy Allen in second and third place respectively. A similar race over 220 yards was staged for the men's team. This game appears to have brought the club's first season to a close

The club was in action again in the 1895-96 season, its first match taking place on 5th September at the Royal Ordnance ground at Maze Hill, the venue which had caused them so much bother in the previous season. North, playing in red, were defeated by South, in light blue, by four goals to one. Further matches took place on 28th September at Grays in Essex, and on 3rd October at Wembley Park. The novelty seemed to be wearing off as the first match warranted only 4 lines in the Essex Newsman, and the second, which resulted in a 3-1 victory for the Reds, was watched by a small crowd estimated at 300, and was generally overlooked by the press, with the exception of the Illustrated Police News. This devoted most of its report to a description of the ladies' dress and hairstyles. It also commented that these were the "original" lady footballers.

"Mrs Graham," it would appear, had formed her own club, as several games which were reported after this date refer to "Mrs Graham's XI." Other reports however simply refer to "The Lady Footballers," and it is not clear which team(s) were playing. A photograph entitled "Mrs Graham, Captain of the Lady Footballers," was published in The Sketch in October, but there was no accompanying narrative to explain which team she was captain of. A brief paragraph published in the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent on 14th October 1895 seemed to clarify the situation, reporting that "The Original Lady Footballers as they now style themselves, are still to the fore, and are presently starring in the English Midlands. Miss Honeyball has now no connection with them, Mrs Graham, the goalkeeper, acting as secretary and general manager." However, it is clear from the match record tabulated below that more than one team must have been involved, as otherwise some of the overnight journeys between venues would have been impossible, and on one occasion the ladies were performing simultaneously in two widely-separated places.

The "Lady Footballers" set off on another country-wide tour. One of the first towns to be visited, on 10th October, was Wellingborough. Their reception was lukewarm, only 600 spectators watching the game, and the local newspaper omitted to report the score.

On 16th October they were reported to have played at two venues: this had occurred once before, at Reading and Maidenhead, but on this occasion the venues were Hastings and Northampton respectively. It seems very unlikely that the players could have performed at these two towns on the same day. The Hastings and St Leonards Observer gave a detailed report of the match there, with a list of the players, whereas there was only a cursory mention of the Northampton game in the local press and the score was not reported. Either the latter game took place on a different day, or the teams performing were imposters!

Uncertainty also surrounds the exact date at which they appeared at the Tomkinson Street ground in Hoole. A report of the game, which the Reds won 2-0, appeared in the Cheshire Observer on November 2nd. The date of the match was not given, but it was said to have taken place during the previous week.

A warmer welcome greeted them however at Leek on 25th October. The teams changed in the Red Lion Hotel, and a cheering and curious crowd assembled in the market square as the women embarked in a brake to take them to the Broad Bridge ground^*. There was a great deal of enthusiasm for the match locally, and the reporter for the Leek Post and Times estimated that the attendance was around 3000, approximately 400 of whom had rushed the gate and got in without paying. Once again, the teams were not at full strength, the Red team having 8 players while the Blues had 9, and two local men acted as goalkeepers for the afternoon. The teams were:- North (Red and White): (Mr) H. Redfern, Nellie Hudson (capt.), Nellie Clarke, Russell, Sundall, Newton, Oliphant, Ivy Hudson, Anderson; South (Blue): (Mr) Lavington, Bird, Vernon, Wilson, Hodge, Potter, Holloway, Oliver, Young, Hoferon (capt.)

* The site, located on Abbey Green Road, is still occupied by two football pitches.

The star player was Ivy Hudson, a 14 year old who was encouraged on by the crowd shouting "Goo it Little Un." ¹¹ The North seemed to dominate the play in the opening moments of the game. The match was won early in the second half when Miss Bird for the South crossed from the right for Miss Hoferon to shoot past a diving Mr Redfern in goal.

The following day the Blues repeated their 1-0 superiority over the Reds at Stafford Rangers.

A week later, on Saturday November 2nd, the BLFC played the first of a series of games in South Wales. The opening match was played at the Harlequins ground in Cardiff. A crowd of between 7,000 and 8,000 had gathered and seemed to enjoy the occasion; not so the Lady Correspondent of the Western Mail who thought the ladies looked a "frowsy, untidy lot," with "blouses all crumpled up, as if they had been crammed into a carpet bag and left there for weeks." The game followed the usual format, and the Reds were the winners by 7 goals to 2. On the following Monday Pontypridd was the venue, the score being North 5, South 1. A match at Ynys Field, Aberdare, took place on Tuesday 5th November, but the score was not reported. A match at Neath followed on Thursday 7th, which the Reds won by 3 goals to 1. They returned to the Harlequins Ground on Friday 8th November for the final match in this mini-tour of the Principality. The opponents on this occasion were a team of local men, who had to endure the indignity of being defeated by five goals to two. A planned encounter at Llanelli did not take place owing to the local club refusing to allow their ground to be used for such a spectacle.

Not everyone was pleased with the arrival of the lady footballers in Wales; a commentator writing in the Christian Commonwealth described a match he had attended in rather un-Christian terms:

On 11th November 1895 the BLFC played at Loakes Park, the home of Wycombe Wanderers F.C. The teams were:- North (Reds): Lynn, Fenn, A. Lee, Brown, Yates, Smith, Dennis, F. Clarke, Gilbert, Edwardes, Aylin; South (Blues): Mrs Graham, Ashleigh, E. Clarke, Abram, J. Clarke, A. N. Other, Lee, Garbett, Rogers, Welch, Ivatt. A large crowd had assembled at the ground, and, according to the South Bucks Free Press, an even larger crowd watched for free from "Tom Burt's Hill" overlooking the ground. The North team had the better of the play from the kick off, and won by four goals to nil, all of which were ascribed to the energy of inside-left Edwardes, "a veritable Triton among the minnows," though it is not clear whether she actually scored any of them herself. A photograph record was made of the play, showing that it was very much a physical encounter. In the match programme the teams were described as the "Original Lady Footballers," and "the only genuine players, with no connection with any other teams travelling." On the very same day another team, purporting to be the "Original Lady Footballers" and including "Tommy" played a 0-0 draw at the Kingsholm Ground, Gloucester. As both matches were played in the afternoon there is no question of the same teams having fulfilled both fixtures. Furthermore, the match at Wycombe had lady goalkeepers, whereas at Gloucester two men took these positions. It is possible that this latter set of Lady Footballers were the ones who played at Cheltenham on 13th November and Worcester on 14th November.

A goalmouth scramble at Loakes Park, 11th November 1895
(photograph courtesy of Steve Peart)

Further photographs of this game can be viewed here

In the same week as the Wycombe match the ladies made an appearance at Portman Road, Ipswich, and during the following week they performed at Hunslet, but the exact dates and outcomes of these games are yet to emerge.

Wednesday 20th November saw the Blues defeat the Reds by 2 goals to 1 at Chesterfield Recreation Ground. The match report states that 22 females performed, so it is possible to draw the inference that matches around in which men were pressed into service as goalkeepers involved the non-Original Lady Footballers (for want of a better description).

On Saturday 30th November the ladies were at the Athletic Ground, Milnrow Road, Rochdale. Two male goalkeepers were recruited from the local Rochdale Wanderers FC. The Rochdale Observer commented that "the ladies have vastly improved in their play since they first submitted themselves to the public gaze." The game went off peacefully, with the usual banter from the crowd, and the South team, playing in Blue and White, won by 2 goals to 1. There was very little hostile criticism from the crowd - that was to come the following day when the Archdeacon of Manchester, preaching at Rochdale, said it was "a disgrace to the town that such an exhibition should be allowed to take place".

On 4th December the ladies performed at Coppull Lane, Wigan. They arrived in the town at mid-day and made their way to the Green Man Inn to change into their strips. The weather was appalling, the rain coming down in torrents, and the potential spectators waited in the lane outside the ground, unwilling to hand over their money until they were certain the ladies would turn out. When they did, at a few minutes past three, there was a rush for the turnstiles, and the gate was fairly reasonable considering the conditions. Somewhat predictably the Wigan Observer focussed on the players' attire, describing it as "not very becoming," and noted that the players "did not present a very elegant appearance after the match - many who had arrived with frizzy hair left with it quite straight." There was some reporting of the play however; the Reds were said to have had the best of the play, and some good shots were put in by a brunette, but were saved by the (male) goalkeeper who the reporter thought had "played rather too well considering the sort of opponents he had got." The Blues scored first, but the Reds soon equalised, and then produced a winner.

The Burnley Times reported on 7th December that gate receipts at "the gate money taken at the recent match between two teams of the Lady Footballers at the Padiham club amounted to over £4" but gave no details of the score or the exact date. Similarly, the Wrexham Advertiser reported a match having taken place at Rock Ferry on Saturday 14th December, but gave no details of the teams or the outcome.

Matches took place at St Helens on 7th December and Manchester on 11th December, but little detail was reported. On 12th December a team featuring Mrs Graham played at Coventry FC in pouring rain against a side of young men styled the Greenwich Juniors. The result was 2-1 to the young men.

A match at Cambridge Road, Colchester, on Tuesday 17th December was reported as Mrs Graham's XI versus London and District, with Mrs Graham and the ubiquitous "Tommy" being the only named players. The match resulted in a 2-1 win for London and District. The final match before the end of 1895 appears to have been at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on 21st December, before a crowd of 2,000.

Whether the team continued to play throughout the winter is unknown. A match was scheduled to take place at Beresford Road, Liverpool, on Boxing Day 1895. A large crowd had gathered, when a telegram arrived from London cancelling the event owing to the "inability of the players to arrive on time". Fortunately no admission money had been taken or, as the Weekly Standard and Express put it, "there might have been awkward results." A ladies' football match did take place at Aston Villa on 19th February as part of a charity festival, but this appears to have been a local venture.

The first definite sighting of them was on March 28th at Sincil Bank, the home of Lincoln City FC. Only 16 ladies turned out, and once again they resorted to pressing male goalkeepers into service. Very few details of the match were reported, other than the presence of "Tommy" on the pitch and the score - Reds 1, Blues 0.

The next appearance was on Easter Monday, April 6th. The venue was North End, Portsmouth, home of Portsmouth Rugby Club, and a crowd of 4,000 was in attendance. Interestingly, the Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle reported that most of the players wore short skirts, a departure from their regular uniform, though one or two "took the turf in loose knickers, which enabled them to outstrip their skirted sisters in the frequent runs after the ball." The match was described as a "tremendous struggle," which the North won by seven goals to three, largely due to the efforts of "Tommy" on the left wing.

Three days earlier, on Good Friday, the "Original Lady Footballers" had been scheduled to appear at Middlesbrough. Whether they did or not is unknown, but if they did, it is unlikely that this was the same team which performed at Portsmouth. Furthermore, "Mrs Graham's XI" were due to meet "London and District" at the Victoria Ground, Stockton on Easter Saturday, and a ladies' England versus France match was advertised for the Newdegate Arms Ground, Nuneaton on Easter Monday¹². Clearly several different sets of lady footballers were now on the road.

On 13th April 1896 a match billed as "Mrs Graham's Eleven versus London and District" took place at Mowbray Road, South Shields where a large number of spectators were in attendance. The teams played in light blue and dark blue strips. To judge by the report in the Daily Chronicle, the level of football had not improved, and was extremely one-sided, so much so that the goalkeeper and full-back of one side procured an extra ball and spent part of the game practising penalties to entertain the spectators at that end. The game concluded in a goalless draw. No players' names were given in the match reports, so it is not clear whether the "London and District" team were, in fact, the BLFC.

To add to the uncertainty, the Shields Gazette reported on another match, also at Mowbray Road, on the same evening. In this game the Whites defeated the Greens by 1 goal to nil. It seems hardly credible that the reporters could confuse both the score, and the colours of the strips, and yet in both matches it was reported that the play was so one-sided that the goalkeeper and full-backs of the winning team spent part of the game playing amongst themselves with a separate ball. Without a third, independent account of affairs, it must remain a matter of conjecture as to whether one, or two games were in fact played.

The next game reported in the North East was played at Bishop Auckland on 14th April, but no details of the match or of the participating teams were given in the local press. Similar scant details were given of a match at Weymouth on 23rd April. A match which took place at the Victoria Ground, Stockton, on 25th April, resulted in only a single paragraph in the Northern Echo, however the score, North 5 South 1, was reported.

After Stockton the ladies made a final visit to Newcastle on 29th April 1896, this time playing at Jesmond. The novelty had worn off by now, and a much smaller crowd of only 300-400 witnessed the game. Organisational problems arose once more; the gates remained closed until ten minutes after the time set for kick-off, and the match was contended between teams of nine and ten players respectively. Attempts were made to persuade local girls to make up the numbers but these efforts proved unsuccessful. The Sporting Man, so supportive of the ladies on their first visit, did not think it worthwhile reporting the score, and carried a very brusque report of the event, which closed with a contemptuous, "However, we do not suppose anyone would be any the wiser or the happier if we were to attempt to deal with the proceedings in details."

Ladies' football continued in Scotland; the West Lothian Courier of 16th May reported on a match between Mrs Graham's XI and London and District at Boghead Park, Bathgate, on the previous Saturday. The report stated; "The largest crowd that has ever been seen on Boghead for some years turned out to witness the match. Play was not of a very scientific order, but the crowd around the ropes seemed to thoroughly enjoy the antics of the new woman. The game resulted in a win for the Whites by two goals to one."

The original BLFC was still in action. On 13th May 1896 an advertisement appeared in the Freemans Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, (Dublin). It advised readers that the British Ladies' Football Club, (President Lady Florence Dixie), would appear for the first time in Dublin at the City and Suburban Grounds¹³, Jones's Road, on Saturday 16th May. Admission would be 6d and 1s (2s for the "Special Grand Stand"). Unfortunately the ladies did not turn up, having missed the boat at Holyhead, but a further advertisement announced that they would appear on the following Monday and Tuesday. When they eventually did arrive it seems that they were as much of a success in Dublin as they had been in Belfast; a final advertisement appeared announcing that "Owing to their great success of the Lady Footballers" the a farewell match had been arranged for Saturday 23rd May, the opponents to be a "team of Dublin gentlemen". (The advertisement also contained the interesting information that the ladies had beaten a team of gentlemen in Cardiff on November 6th 1895.) No further details of the first two games in Dublin have so far been discovered, but in the farewell match the ladies defeated the gentlemen by 7 goals to 2.

It seems likely that the team which appeared in Dublin was not the one which had played at Bathgate, because a game was reported between a team of lady footballers and a Select XI (presumably men) from the District Clubs in Irvine, Ayrshire on or around 19th May. The affair was a disaster; Reynolds Newspaper carried the following short account on 31st May:-

Two days later these scenes were repeated when the ladies were again mobbed at Saracen Park, Possilpark, Glasgow.

When they visited Perth on 22nd May the reception was less hostile. The match took place at Balhousie Park, and was described as "miserable, from start to finish" by the Perthshire Constitutional. This was said to be their second visit to the city, and this may explain the very low attendance. The exact number of spectators was not disclosed, however the Perthshire Advertiser reported that there were only five females in the crowd. One of the players (identity not revealed) apparently took exception to a gentleman in the grandstand who persisted in shouting "foul shy." Commenting on the incident, the Perthshire Advertiser stated "it cannot be said that the reply was Parliamentary language." A large crowd assembled outside the park after the game, and as the teams drove off they were pelted with showers of sand.

The following day the teams turned out at Carolina Port, Dundee, the home of Dundee East End. The number of spectators was estimated to be no more than 300, many of whom were small boys, with only a dozen women amongst them. The Dundee Advertiser remarked that the largest towns seemed to be contributing the fewest supporters on this tour. Very little commentary was given on the play, the final observation in the brief report being that "before the match ended most of the spectators had left the field."

Another match against a team of male juniors took place at Stenhousemuir on 25th May, resulting in a 5-5 draw. The following day at Brockville Park, Falkirk, Mrs Graham's XI and London and District played a 2-2 draw. On 28th May at St Andrews they were pitted against a team of men described as "The Ancient City Athletic," they played a 7-7 draw, thanks to a penalty scored by Mrs Graham. Speaking to the St Andrews Citizen she confided that she was "far from pleased with her team's display, which was much under what they capable of." The team reportedly played at Montrose on the following evening, but a report of this game is still to be discovered. The day after they played at the Victoria Grounds, Aberdeen, with their opponents once again being a team of men selected from local junior sides. The men emerged the victors by 6 goals to 4.

A local Junior XI were once again the opposition at East End Park, Dunfermline, on 9th June, and once again the local hooligans were out in force. As the players left the pavilion after the match they were surrounded by the crowd, and had to be escorted to their hotel by four policemen, all the while while being pelted with clods of earth.

On Monday 15th June The Scotsman reported that "the lady footballers visited Broxburn, and played a game on Albion Park. Over £20 was drawn at the gate and the game ended in a win for Mrs Graham's XI by three goals to one." The name of the opposing side was not given, but it is a fair assumption that it was "London and District," as in the previous games.

A match was reported at the Hibs ground in Falkirk on 23rd June; no score was given and no details of the teams were given, but it is safe to conclude that this was Mrs Graham's organisation.

Forthbank Park, Stirling, saw the ladies take on a team of men from the Bathgate area on 27th June. The ground had been rented from the local club, King's Park FC, but the club made it clear that it had nothing further to do with the proceedings. The game was described a "a pretty imitation of football" by the Stirling Sentinel and "farcical" by the Stirling Observer, and the fact that the equalising goal for the ladies in the 2-2 draw was scored by the referee lends credence to this observation.

The "Original Lady Footballers" however were still in business, or so it seemed. On 23rd June the Star reported that the British Ladies Football Club would oppose a team from the Guernsey Rangers FC on 30th July. Arrangements were in place to secure Delancey Park at St Sampson. These negotiations appear to have fallen through, as it was announced two days later that the venue would be Mr Bartlett's field at Les Vardes. Once again however their organisation let them down; on the day of the match it was reported in the Star that they had missed their train at Swansea and the match would be postponed.

It would appear that the BLFC also attempted to stage matches in Devon during July, but were thwarted by officialdom. A committee meeting of the Devon Rugby Union on 3rd July considered applications from the Bideford and Exmouth clubs, but resolved that "Under section GL of the English Laws such matches cannot be allowed; and futher, the Committee strongly disapprove of any such matches being entertained."

The fortunes of the "other" lady footballers appear to have gone downhill also. On 16th July 1896 the Belfast Newsletter reported that "the lady football team is at Gourock in a destitute condition, where Mrs Graham, their captain, is down with scarlet fever." Worse was to come; in September a diminished squad set off on a tour of the West Country. A match at Wellington, Somerset, on 19th September, was described as "a complete fiasco." The rest of the tour could be described in the same way; the ladies travelled on to Exeter, but were unable to play owing to constant rain. While staying in the city in a hope of an improvement in the weather they ran up a bill of £16 which they were unable to pay. The railway company was said to have taken away some of their clothes in lieu of payment. It was reported that most of the women were from the North, which reinforces the possibility that this not the original BLFC club. An appeal to the Mayor for assistance was turned down; "if there had been but two distressed damsels he might have done something, but when it came to six of them he did not see his way to being generous." The party was bailed out temporarily by the proprietor of a local coffee shop, Mr Carnall, and on the advice of the Chief Constable the Mayor started a public subscription, which raised £6 4s 6d. The ladies were then taken to St David's station and their fares to London were paid out of the proceeds.

Three matches were reported in 1897. The first, advertised to take place at Wembley Park on 23rd January, was claimed to involve "The British Ladies Football Team" v "Wembley Park Eleven". No report of the game has been discovered. The second, at Riddings in Derbyshire, took place on 19th April and involved th "British Lady Footballers" and a team of men. The event attracted the largest crowd of the season - some 2,000 spectators turning out to watch an 8-5 defeat for the ladies in a match which was described as farcical. The third game took place at Matlock FC on 20th April; no details were reported.

Despite the enthusiasm of the participants, this attempt at establishing an organisational structure for women's football was short-lived. Initially it was entirely a middle-class venture, and middle-class women were not yet united in favour of the struggle for female rights. Even the feminists among them would probably have baulked at taking the field themselves, though they would certainly have given moral support to the footballers. It then seemed to degenerate into a money-raising venture, which had nothing to do with the ideal of popularising the game of football among women. In fact, it probably had an adverse effect, and it is interesting to note that Nettie Honeyball does not appear to have had anything to do with the venture after the spring of 1895. Another two decades were to pass before a new generation of pioneers would make a fresh effort to establish the women's game, but under the wholly different circumstances of the Great War.

© Patrick Brennan 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011

Notes

1. "Belles of the Ball" by David J Williamson; published by R & D Associates 1991, ISBN 0-9517512-0-4

2. Florence Dixie (1855-1905) was the youngest daughter of the Marquis of Queensbury. She was a female 'Indiana Jones' of her day - a poet, war correspondent, adventurer, supporter of Home Rule for Ireland and Scotland, champion of female and children's rights, and had, in 1883, survived an assassination attempt by two men disguised as women.

3. The match at Crouch End was publicised widely, and well in advance of the date, and this led to others trying to jump on the bandwagon. In Birmingham, for example, adverts appeared seeking "Girls (strong and healthy), to join the Midland Ladies' Football Association for a tour." "Healthy recreation, good pay and suitable dress provided" were some of the inducements offered. It was sufficiently attractive to entice 22 young women to make their debut at Aston on 4th March 1895. The "suitable dress" turned out to be short frocks, one team in red, the other in blue. The Reds seem to have been the winners, having scored heavily during the first half, but the report of the game suggested that most of the goals were own goals. Five hundred spectators attended the match, which appears to have been the only outing of the Midland Ladies' Football Association, as they then disappeared without trace. They did make their public debut in advance of the BLFC, but history has chosen to forget them.

4. Many references on the Internet and the printed page erroneously state that the contest was between the North and South of England. In an interview published in the Daily Graphic on March 2nd 1895 Nettie Honeyball clearly stated that the teams would represent the North of London and the South of London, and only one of the participants is recorded as having travelled from outside London.

5. In an interview given to the Dundee Courier and Argus in May 1896, "Mrs Graham" disclosed that she had been born in Montrose, but had lived for 20 of her 23 years in Lancashire. She also claimed that all the members of her team were, like her, from Lancashire. Her true identity - Miss Helen Graham Matthews, emerged in 1900. Her team allegedly still owed money to a Liverpool sports shop for some jerseys, and an over-zealous manager sent her a forged County Court notice ordering her to pay. The manager was prosecuted and bound over.

6. A group of ladies staged at least six so-called "England v Scotland" games in 1881. Several of these, including a match in Manchester, were brought to an early end by hooligans. For more details of this earlier tour click here.

7. Susan Mary Elizabeth Stewart-Mackenzie Jeune, Baroness Helier (d. 1931)

8. In 1900 Bedminster FC merged with Bristol City FC, who still play at Ashton Gate today.

9. This was probably Springvale Park's best-attended match of the season, as Cowlairs themselves finished bottom of the Scottish second division and were not re-elected. The BLFC also had to sue the club for repayment of £15 it witheld after the match. The case was heard in the Glasgow Small Debt Court on 30th May 1895, and after a conference the parties agreed to settle for half the sum.

10. "Nellie Gilbert" was also a pseudonym; the newspaper report revealed that her real name was Mrs Richardson.

11. From the description of Ivy Hudson it is possible that she and Nellie Hudson were, in fact, Mrs Richardson and her daughter playing under new pseudonyms.

12. A match did take place as advertised, and attracted 3,000 spectators, but the report in the Coventry Evening Telegraph made no mention of the players' nationalities, and it would seem that this was another example of extravagant Victorian showmanship.

13. In 1913 the "City & Suburban Racecourse and General Amusement Grounds" was bought by the Gaelic Athletic Association and renamed Croke Park.

Details of 100 matches reported in the newspapers

(matches involving, or likely to have involved "Mrs Graham's XI" follow in a separate table)

"Mrs Graham's XI"

This list is still being added to, so if you find the subject matter of interest please visit again.

© Patrick Brennan 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

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