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.

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.² It was, however, the first game to be played in such prestigious surroundings, and witnessed by such a large crowd.

Nettie J. Honeyball

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

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."

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 Dixie³ 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.

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 Nettie Honeyball's club were ready for their first public exhibition. Posters advertising the game were widely distributed⁴, 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 respectively⁵.

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," ⁶ 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 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 schedlued for 18th April at Maze Hill, Greenwich, the home of the Royal Ordnance FC. A crowed of between 3 and 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 which decided to ensure a new date should be arranged as soon as possible, and, "in the event of the ladies failing to fulfil a future engagement, steps will be taken as the committee may be advised." Surprisingly, this incident escaped the attention of the national newspapers, being reported only in the local press and the satirical magazine Fun carried a brief reference in its issue of 7th May.

The raging storm, which had prevented a short trip across London, did not prevent the ladies embarking the following day on a much longer trip to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and on 20th April they took to the turf of St. James's Park. 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, and on 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.

Bramall Lane was the intended venue for a match 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 possibly the first official action by the Football Association against women's football; it was to be followed by more stringent measures in the years to come.

The ladies resumed their journey northwards. 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. Hearth and Home magazine reported that this was their first game in Scotland, and was followed by another at Falkirk, but the date of this second match is unknown.^* On Saturday 5th May the ladies performed at Springvale Park in Glasgow, the home of Cowlairs FC, one of the founder members of the Scotish League. A crowd of around 5,000 saw the Blues win by two goals to one.⁹

* It is possible that this match was cancelled due to the Denny pit disaster which had claimed 13 lives. The funerals of the victims took place on 29th April.

The progress of the tour was haphazard; from Glasgow the club travelled south again to Yorkshire, making appearances at Valley Parade, Manningham, Bradford on 7th May, and Meanwood Road, Leeds on 9th May. Both 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 second 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.

From Yorkshire the club returned to north east England; 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".

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.

Their westward journey continued, and 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, one of its first matches taking place on 3rd October at Wembley Park. The match, 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, which devoted most of its column to a description of the ladies' dress and hairstyles. The club then set off on another country-wide tour, one of the first towns to be visited, on 25th October, being Leek in Staffordshire. 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.

A week later, on Saturday November 2nd, the club 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.

On 11th November 1895 the ladies 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.

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 programme for the Hign Wycombe match the teams were described as the "original lady footballers," and "the only genuine players, with no connection with any other teams travelling." Evidently some other ladies' teams were attempting to get in on the act. "Mrs Graham," in particular, appears to have toured with her own team in 1896, but the sparsely-worded press reports of many games simply refer to the participants as the "Lady Footballers," and it is not clear whether it is the original BLFC, or "Mrs Graham's XI," or some other team which actually appeared. This should be borne in mind when reading the rest of this account.

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.

On Saturday 30th November the ladies performed 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.

Whether the team continued to play throughout the winter is unknown. It is probable that they did not, and although a ladies' football match took place at Aston Villa on 19th February as part of a charity festival, this appears to have been a local venture. The next definite sighting was on Easter Monday, April 8th. 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.

Later that season lady footballers returned to north east England. On 13th April 1896 they played once more at Mowbray Road, South Shields. There was a large number of spectators in attendance, to witness a match billed as "Mrs Graham's Eleven versus London and District." 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.

Somewhat confusingly, 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 itself were given in the local press. When they played at the Victoria Ground, Stockton, on 25th April, the Northern Echo devoted only a single paragraph to the affair, reporting that the North team won by five goals to 1.

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."

The ladies appear to have ventured into Scotland once more; 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 next report of the lady footballers is in Dublin. 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 Grounds¹², 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 25th May. The affair was a disaster; Reynolds Newspaper carried the following short account on 31st May:-

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 at Bathgate.

From here the fortunes of the lady footballers appear to have gone downhill. 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 descibed 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 their funds ran out, and they were unable either to stay or to leave. 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, and on the advice of the Chief Constable the Mayor started a public subscription, which raised sufficient funds for the ladies to return home.

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

Notes

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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Mrs Graham's 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.

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.

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

Details of 49 matches reported in the newspapers

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

© Patrick Brennan 2006, 2007, 2008

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