The Plot Against Women’s Football

By: Mark Critchley

In the wake of the First World War, women’s football flourished alongside the rising workers’ movement. Then an establishment conspiracy took the legs from under it.

Dick, Kerr Ladies, founded in Preston in 1917. (Topical Press Agency / Hulton Archive / Getty Images)

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In May 1921, the wives of miners from Platt Bridge in Wigan organised a football match against the neighbouring village of Abram. The final score was 4-1 to Platt Bridge, who ‘quickly commenced a lead which they maintained until the end’, according to the Wigan Observer’s contemporary match report. It was a kickabout between two […]

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In May 1921, the wives of miners from Platt Bridge in Wigan organised a football match against the neighbouring village of Abram. The final score was 4-1 to Platt Bridge, who ‘quickly commenced a lead which they maintained until the end’, according to the Wigan Observer’s contemporary match report. It was a kickabout between two […]

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In May 1921, the wives of miners from Platt Bridge in Wigan organised a football match against the neighbouring village of Abram. The final score was 4-1 to Platt Bridge, who ‘quickly commenced a lead which they maintained until the end’, according to the Wigan Observer’s contemporary match report. It was a kickabout between two […]

In May 1921, the wives of miners from Platt Bridge in Wigan organised a football match against the neighbouring village of Abram. The final score was 4-1 to Platt Bridge, who ‘quickly commenced a lead which they maintained until the end’, according to the Wigan Observer’s contemporary match report. It was a kickabout between two […]

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