Photograph of three Women’s football teams, 1921

During the First World War women worked in factories and industries that they had not traditionally worked in before. Many of these workplaces had football teams; when women started working in these workplaces they also started their own teams. (See Lizzie Holmes oral history below).

The Football Association suspended matches during the war and many footballers joined the armed forces. The gap that was left was filled by women’s football. Matches were played across the country, mainly as charity events to raise money for injured soldiers and sailors. Popularity grew and matches were played in large venues in front of thousands of spectators, including at Saint James’s Park in Newcastle.

Then, as now (2020), some of the best women’s footballers in the country came from the North East. Bella Reay played for Blyth Spartans who won the Munitionette’s Cup in May 1918. Bella scored a hattrick in the match which Blyth Spartans won 5-0. Mary Lyons also played for Blyth Spartans, although she also played for Palmers. Mary is the youngest England international football player, male or female, as she played from her country aged just 15 years. (See below)

In spite of the popularity of women’s football, the Football Association banned women from playing on their pitches in 1921. As men returned from the war, women were expected to make way in the workplace and many did so willingly. But, without the organisation around the workplace and with the FA ban, women’s football went into decline. (See Lizzie Holmes oral history – she gives her football kit to her husband to wear as pit clothes.)

The photographs show the following teams:
Top: Barrington Ladies (NRO 07990/2/7)
Middle: Netherton Ladies (NRO 05283/GI/2)
Bottom: Ashington Ladies (NRO 05283/C/18/57)