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Girls with Balls: The Secret History of Women's Football
Boxing Day 1920, and 53,000 men, women and children pack inside Goodison Park. The extraordinary crowds have come to watch two local rivals play a match for charity. But this is no ordinary charity fixture. Eleven of the players are international celebrities and their team is the biggest draw in British—and world—football. Yet they are all full-time factory workers—and they are women. They are the ladies of Dick Kerr electrical works. And the male football establishment is terrified by them. With the men away fighting from 1914–1918, most of the workers in the factories of northern England were women. And many factories had a ladies’ football team. In December 1917, the team from the Dick Kerr factory challenged the ladies of the nearby Arundel Coulthard Foundry to a charity match. It was the first of 828 games for Dick Kerr Ladies as over the decades they scored more than 3,500 goals and raised the equivalent of £1million for an array of charities. By 1920, ladies’ football was a major spectator sport. But away from the cheering terraces the bastions of professional men’s football viewed the mass popularity of women’s soccer with increasing alarm. On December 5, 1921 the Football Association met in London. After a brief debate behind closed doors it unanimously passed an urgent resolution: women’s football was banned from all professional football grounds. Dick Kerr Ladies did not give in, playing their matches on parkland with thousands of spectators turning up to watch. But constant pressure from the FA meant that one by one, teams began to fold. It would take until 1971 for the FA to lift its ban. Today, women’s football has once again claimed a place in the global game. But it came too late for the pioneers of the sport: Preston Ladies—née Dick Kerr Ladies—played their last match in 1969. Girls With Balls tells the extraordinary story of the time when women ruled the football world. With recollections from the last remaining member of the team from Dick Kerr’s glory years and a treasure trove of contemporary photographs, this is the missing chapter in the history of football, its last great secret. It is a story of men with power, wealth and a fiefdom to protect. But above all, it is a story of girls with balls.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
10 people are currently reading
220 people want to read
About the author
Tim Tate
25 books67 followersTim Tate is a multiple award-winning British documentary film-maker and bestselling author.
His films - mostly investigative, always campaigning - have been honoured by Amnesty International, the Royal Television Society, UNESCO, The Association for International Broadcasting, The International Documentary Association, the New York Festivals and the US National Academy of Cable Programming. He often speaks at international conferences and university seminars.
He is also the author of fifteen published non-fiction books. These include the best-selling "Slave Girl" which told the true story of a young British woman sex-trafficked to Amsterdam; "Girls With Balls" which uncovered the secret history of women's football; "Hitler's Forgotten Children", which tells the extraordinary and harrowing story of a woman who was part of the Nazi Lebensborn programme to create an Aryan master race; and "Yorkshire Ripper - The Secret Murders" which reveals long-suppressed evidence showing that Peter Sutcliffe killed 23 more victims.
His 2017, "Pride", tells the extraordinary true story behind the hit movie of the same name. In 1984,in the depths of the bitterly-fought miners' strike, a group of very cosmopolitan London gay men and women made common cause with the very traditional communities of a remote south Wales valley - and helped keep its mining families alive at at a time when the British government was trying to starve them into submission.
His latest book - The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: Crime, Conspiracy and Cover-Up (Thistle Publishing) is the result of 25 years investigation by Tim and his co-author, former CNN journalist Brad Johnson. It presents detailed forensic, ballistic and eyewitness testimony showing that the convicted assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, could not have shot Kennedy. It reveals that Los Angeles Police disregarded and then suppressed clear evidence of a conspiracy behind the assassination and makes a compelling case for a new official inquiry.
His films - mostly investigative, always campaigning - have been honoured by Amnesty International, the Royal Television Society, UNESCO, The Association for International Broadcasting, The International Documentary Association, the New York Festivals and the US National Academy of Cable Programming. He often speaks at international conferences and university seminars.
He is also the author of fifteen published non-fiction books. These include the best-selling "Slave Girl" which told the true story of a young British woman sex-trafficked to Amsterdam; "Girls With Balls" which uncovered the secret history of women's football; "Hitler's Forgotten Children", which tells the extraordinary and harrowing story of a woman who was part of the Nazi Lebensborn programme to create an Aryan master race; and "Yorkshire Ripper - The Secret Murders" which reveals long-suppressed evidence showing that Peter Sutcliffe killed 23 more victims.
His 2017, "Pride", tells the extraordinary true story behind the hit movie of the same name. In 1984,in the depths of the bitterly-fought miners' strike, a group of very cosmopolitan London gay men and women made common cause with the very traditional communities of a remote south Wales valley - and helped keep its mining families alive at at a time when the British government was trying to starve them into submission.
His latest book - The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: Crime, Conspiracy and Cover-Up (Thistle Publishing) is the result of 25 years investigation by Tim and his co-author, former CNN journalist Brad Johnson. It presents detailed forensic, ballistic and eyewitness testimony showing that the convicted assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, could not have shot Kennedy. It reveals that Los Angeles Police disregarded and then suppressed clear evidence of a conspiracy behind the assassination and makes a compelling case for a new official inquiry.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 1, 2023
Loves a tangent, I also love a tangent.
Preston North End's successes will always be tainted in my book👍 very interesting and informative book, FA bad imo
Preston North End's successes will always be tainted in my book👍 very interesting and informative book, FA bad imo
January 6, 2020
This book is well worth reading whether you are interested in football or not.
May 3, 2019
I am NOT a football fan. I think the hype and general venerabilisation of the highest paid players is utterly ridiculous.
However, I attended an utterly fascinating talk called No Petticoats Here about women's roles in the Great War last November at a local library. And during this event I learnt that women, whom I knew had played football matches for charitable purposes during the conflict, and the very fact of women playing football, packing out whole stadiums and raising (by modern standards) literally millions of pounds had terrified the Football Association panel so much they banned women from playing the game on their grounds across the country from 1925 until the Sex Discrimination Act of 75 (I believe) in the UK made it illegal for them to do so.
The Women's game is still recovering - but it is recovering. The England Ladies team goes from strength to strength, I seem to remember them doing rather better than the men's side in the last World Cup...
This book is about the start of it all - how mill and factory workers, employed 'for the duration' in making munitions and similar, banded together, at first informally for kick abouts in their lunch break (a generous 15 minutes!) then in more formal teams sponsored by their bemused employers for charity matches. The most successful team where the ladies from Dick, Kerr's munitions factory and the book is mostly centred around their forming, changing team members, their manager - a 1910s football version of Simon Cowell with the Spice Girls to my mind, the matches they played and the money they raised.
Dick, Kerr's played a French team of lady footballers in the UK and in France long before the men's team had applied for their passports. They toured the States and Canada too - less successfully but again, before the men did.
Sadly the patriarchy got terrified that these women who, in their Vic/Ed mins, should be getting married, constantly producing children and keeping house, rather than taking to a muddy field twice a week and playing a fairly driving game of football. The FA slowly screwed the official rules of the game down so the ladies game was made impossible.
Some would say times haven't changed much.
A really interesting and pertinent read.
A library book so being returned this weekend.
However, I attended an utterly fascinating talk called No Petticoats Here about women's roles in the Great War last November at a local library. And during this event I learnt that women, whom I knew had played football matches for charitable purposes during the conflict, and the very fact of women playing football, packing out whole stadiums and raising (by modern standards) literally millions of pounds had terrified the Football Association panel so much they banned women from playing the game on their grounds across the country from 1925 until the Sex Discrimination Act of 75 (I believe) in the UK made it illegal for them to do so.
The Women's game is still recovering - but it is recovering. The England Ladies team goes from strength to strength, I seem to remember them doing rather better than the men's side in the last World Cup...
This book is about the start of it all - how mill and factory workers, employed 'for the duration' in making munitions and similar, banded together, at first informally for kick abouts in their lunch break (a generous 15 minutes!) then in more formal teams sponsored by their bemused employers for charity matches. The most successful team where the ladies from Dick, Kerr's munitions factory and the book is mostly centred around their forming, changing team members, their manager - a 1910s football version of Simon Cowell with the Spice Girls to my mind, the matches they played and the money they raised.
Dick, Kerr's played a French team of lady footballers in the UK and in France long before the men's team had applied for their passports. They toured the States and Canada too - less successfully but again, before the men did.
Sadly the patriarchy got terrified that these women who, in their Vic/Ed mins, should be getting married, constantly producing children and keeping house, rather than taking to a muddy field twice a week and playing a fairly driving game of football. The FA slowly screwed the official rules of the game down so the ladies game was made impossible.
Some would say times haven't changed much.
A really interesting and pertinent read.
A library book so being returned this weekend.
September 10, 2013
Girls With Balls is a highly interesting and entertaining read for many reasons. It is partly about female emancipation, partly about football, but all about people playing football for the love of the game and not for the money which seems to be the case nowadays with most footballers, or at least the players in the premier league as a rule.
The book is full of interesting characters such as the redoubtable Nettie Honeyball who sounds more like a James Bond girl than a pioneer of women's football who was heavily involved with the British Ladies football club in the late 1890's, Alfred Frankland who seemed to mastermind the most famous ladies football team of all time the Dick, Kerr Ladies and most of all the chain-smoking, swearing, Lily Parr who played for the team for more than 30 years in total scoring just under 1000 goals in the process.
Also of great interest in this book is the reasons why the FA decided to ban the women's game from taking place on FA members grounds (such as the fact that the game was just not suitable for women to play as it could affect their abilities to bear children and also because it might cause them to become Lesbians), but also the fact that this didn't stop these spirited women from playing the game that they loved!
The book is full of interesting characters such as the redoubtable Nettie Honeyball who sounds more like a James Bond girl than a pioneer of women's football who was heavily involved with the British Ladies football club in the late 1890's, Alfred Frankland who seemed to mastermind the most famous ladies football team of all time the Dick, Kerr Ladies and most of all the chain-smoking, swearing, Lily Parr who played for the team for more than 30 years in total scoring just under 1000 goals in the process.
Also of great interest in this book is the reasons why the FA decided to ban the women's game from taking place on FA members grounds (such as the fact that the game was just not suitable for women to play as it could affect their abilities to bear children and also because it might cause them to become Lesbians), but also the fact that this didn't stop these spirited women from playing the game that they loved!
May 15, 2018
This is a very strange book.
In some ways, the history is excellent: Tim Tate has completed lots of good research, including (it seems) original research of provincial newspapers, and he brings this all together through an often engaging and humorous narrative.
At the same time, the book seems incredibly sloppy: there are no references to any works/sources at all (except for an absurdly short reading list on the final page), the book contains a number of typos, and - bizarrely - has several runs of duplicate pages. This really spoils what could have been a really fantastic popular history of a valuable and under-explored topic.
In some ways, the history is excellent: Tim Tate has completed lots of good research, including (it seems) original research of provincial newspapers, and he brings this all together through an often engaging and humorous narrative.
At the same time, the book seems incredibly sloppy: there are no references to any works/sources at all (except for an absurdly short reading list on the final page), the book contains a number of typos, and - bizarrely - has several runs of duplicate pages. This really spoils what could have been a really fantastic popular history of a valuable and under-explored topic.
October 15, 2017
As a football fan and someone with a passing interest in womens football I found this to be a fascinating insight into not only women's football, but football and popular culture in general during the early 20th century. The fight for equality in sport during a time of rank chauvinism and archaic ideals is both expected and quite shocking in equal measure.
Some great characters are described and discussed and I genuinely think that the 'Dick Kerrs Ladies Football Team' and their adventures would make a great novel or even movie adaptation in the style of 'the Damned United'.
Some great characters are described and discussed and I genuinely think that the 'Dick Kerrs Ladies Football Team' and their adventures would make a great novel or even movie adaptation in the style of 'the Damned United'.
April 2, 2019
Really a fascinating book. And a little heartbreaking. And maddening.
This book tells the story of women's football in England and how it so threatened the FA that it was effectively banned for decades. The author sets the tone by illustrating the prevailing attitudes toward women in general at the end of the 19th century, then the backdrop of the First World War on the British home front. The story of the women and men involved was interesting and inspiring. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it will stick with me for a long time.
This book tells the story of women's football in England and how it so threatened the FA that it was effectively banned for decades. The author sets the tone by illustrating the prevailing attitudes toward women in general at the end of the 19th century, then the backdrop of the First World War on the British home front. The story of the women and men involved was interesting and inspiring. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it will stick with me for a long time.
March 10, 2023
Far more interesting and entertaining than I’d expected it to be, this book isn’t just the history of women’s football, but it also takes in the evolution of the sport and even the impact of the First World War and how both of these influenced how women’s football was viewed by both The Powers That Be and the general public. It ends very abruptly. Could do with a reissue examining how the appearance of Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games and the success of the Lionesses 10 years later has revitalised the sport.
November 8, 2016
Girls With Balls tells the history of women’s football in England, that centres around the story of the famous Dick, Kerr Ladies. The author, Tim Tate admits he is a follower of rugby union and not the round ball game. Unfortunately for the football fan this shows in his writing. Maybe he should have done a bit better research, or left it to someone who knows about the history of the game. There are a number of ‘not quite right’ passages in the book. It doesn’t help that for a lot of the information in the book Tim hasn’t cited his references, although he has on some, generally the information that is ‘less than correct’ he hasn’t cited.
On page 7 Tim talks of a 6-2-2-1 formation, while not incorrect, the usual way of writing formations is to start with the backs, no need to include the goalkeeper as they are taken as read, and finish with the forwards. So his 6-2-2-1 formation becomes 2-2-6.
Then on page 27 Tim writes “Within a decade, football as a sport for the working man had been almost entirely snuffed out across the length and breadth of the land.” Tim is writing about the mid-19th century, for years historians believed this to be true, now it is very debatable as research by John Goulstone and Adrian Harvey show this was far from the truth, although some historians still believe the more ‘traditional’ view.
On pages 36 & 37 he tells the reader that he can only find the formation of the FA reported in two newspapers (Chelmsford Chronicle & Exeter Flying Post). Anyone who knows the story of the formation of the FA, should know that it was also reported in The Times & Bell’s Life In London. To that you can also add papers such as Sporting Life, Penny Illustrated Paper, Sheffield Independent, London Daily News, Morning Advertiser and the London Evening Standard.
On page 40 Tim says “By 1866, Morley’s beleaguered group of London clubs [The FA] had evidently heard of Sheffield...”. I hope they had as Sheffield FC had been members of the FA since 1863!
On page 108 he claims that “Upper-class players - notably from the Wanderers... had formed a breakaway Amateur Football Association in 1907... ", the funny thing is that the Wanderers had folded some 20 years before. I think the club that Tim is referring to is the Corinthian FC.
On page 111 he tells us that Billy Meredith joined an outfit that “would become Manchester United.” Meredith joined United in 1906, at which time they had already been known by this name since 1902.
On page 133 mention is made of “the former Newcastle United and Northern Ireland defender Billy McCracken”, although back then (1917) there was officially only an all-Ireland team.
On page 162 Tim writes “By contrast, the FA’s professional side only played its first international (again against France) in 1923.” This is very misleading as the FA had two England teams: a Full International team and an Amateur team (the England Amateur team came under the jurisdiction of the FA and not the AFA, as suggested by Tim on the previous page). There was no professional national team as such and there still isn’t. The full team is open to both professionals and amateurs (although no amateur has played for the full team since 1936). The Full team played their first official international in 1872 (v Scotland) and their first against overseas opponents in 1908 (v Austria).
Page 185 he says “In one year alone [1920], Dick, Kerr’s Ladies would play 30 matches: far more than any professional men’s team of the time.” Really? Each Football League club would play 42 league fixtures per season plus any cup matches and friendlies. For example, take Bristol City, an average Div 2 club at the time, they played 53 matches during the 1919-20 season (42 league, 5 FA Cup, 1 Gloucestershire Cup & 5 friendlies).
Then on page 207 he writes “(...honour of being the first woman footballer to be shown a red card).” As this was 1921 I assume that Tim meant this ‘so to speak’ as red cards was not introduced until 1970!
On pages 216 & 217 he tells us that Dick, Kerr’s Ladies “had played 25 fixtures since the start of the year [1921], in front of almost 400,000 spectators” and “That the women’s game was so significantly more popular than professional men’s football...” This meant Dick, Kerr’s Ladies were averaging almost 16,000 per game, which of course is a very impressive figure for a club so young and without their own home ground. But regarding the second quotation, Newcastle United’s average home attendance for 1920-21 season was 41,100, the best in Div 1, Birmingham’s average was 32,760, the best in Div 2 and Millwall’s average was 18,950, the best in Div 3. 35 out of the 66 Football League clubs that season better an average of 16,000. This is not belittling the achievements of the Ladies who still had better averages for those 25 matches than almost half the Football League clubs.
Then back on page 168 Tim tells us that “Alice Woods may have been working class, but the family was solidly respectable.” What is he trying to say? That working class being respectable is unusual? Maybe he has just worded it badly, but I can assure him that lots of us working class come from respectable families.
I would like to rate this book higher bur unfortunately there are too many ‘not quite right’ passages in the book.
On page 7 Tim talks of a 6-2-2-1 formation, while not incorrect, the usual way of writing formations is to start with the backs, no need to include the goalkeeper as they are taken as read, and finish with the forwards. So his 6-2-2-1 formation becomes 2-2-6.
Then on page 27 Tim writes “Within a decade, football as a sport for the working man had been almost entirely snuffed out across the length and breadth of the land.” Tim is writing about the mid-19th century, for years historians believed this to be true, now it is very debatable as research by John Goulstone and Adrian Harvey show this was far from the truth, although some historians still believe the more ‘traditional’ view.
On pages 36 & 37 he tells the reader that he can only find the formation of the FA reported in two newspapers (Chelmsford Chronicle & Exeter Flying Post). Anyone who knows the story of the formation of the FA, should know that it was also reported in The Times & Bell’s Life In London. To that you can also add papers such as Sporting Life, Penny Illustrated Paper, Sheffield Independent, London Daily News, Morning Advertiser and the London Evening Standard.
On page 40 Tim says “By 1866, Morley’s beleaguered group of London clubs [The FA] had evidently heard of Sheffield...”. I hope they had as Sheffield FC had been members of the FA since 1863!
On page 108 he claims that “Upper-class players - notably from the Wanderers... had formed a breakaway Amateur Football Association in 1907... ", the funny thing is that the Wanderers had folded some 20 years before. I think the club that Tim is referring to is the Corinthian FC.
On page 111 he tells us that Billy Meredith joined an outfit that “would become Manchester United.” Meredith joined United in 1906, at which time they had already been known by this name since 1902.
On page 133 mention is made of “the former Newcastle United and Northern Ireland defender Billy McCracken”, although back then (1917) there was officially only an all-Ireland team.
On page 162 Tim writes “By contrast, the FA’s professional side only played its first international (again against France) in 1923.” This is very misleading as the FA had two England teams: a Full International team and an Amateur team (the England Amateur team came under the jurisdiction of the FA and not the AFA, as suggested by Tim on the previous page). There was no professional national team as such and there still isn’t. The full team is open to both professionals and amateurs (although no amateur has played for the full team since 1936). The Full team played their first official international in 1872 (v Scotland) and their first against overseas opponents in 1908 (v Austria).
Page 185 he says “In one year alone [1920], Dick, Kerr’s Ladies would play 30 matches: far more than any professional men’s team of the time.” Really? Each Football League club would play 42 league fixtures per season plus any cup matches and friendlies. For example, take Bristol City, an average Div 2 club at the time, they played 53 matches during the 1919-20 season (42 league, 5 FA Cup, 1 Gloucestershire Cup & 5 friendlies).
Then on page 207 he writes “(...honour of being the first woman footballer to be shown a red card).” As this was 1921 I assume that Tim meant this ‘so to speak’ as red cards was not introduced until 1970!
On pages 216 & 217 he tells us that Dick, Kerr’s Ladies “had played 25 fixtures since the start of the year [1921], in front of almost 400,000 spectators” and “That the women’s game was so significantly more popular than professional men’s football...” This meant Dick, Kerr’s Ladies were averaging almost 16,000 per game, which of course is a very impressive figure for a club so young and without their own home ground. But regarding the second quotation, Newcastle United’s average home attendance for 1920-21 season was 41,100, the best in Div 1, Birmingham’s average was 32,760, the best in Div 2 and Millwall’s average was 18,950, the best in Div 3. 35 out of the 66 Football League clubs that season better an average of 16,000. This is not belittling the achievements of the Ladies who still had better averages for those 25 matches than almost half the Football League clubs.
Then back on page 168 Tim tells us that “Alice Woods may have been working class, but the family was solidly respectable.” What is he trying to say? That working class being respectable is unusual? Maybe he has just worded it badly, but I can assure him that lots of us working class come from respectable families.
I would like to rate this book higher bur unfortunately there are too many ‘not quite right’ passages in the book.
March 21, 2022
Very interesting read! Even for me who has no interest in football, the history of how the woman's game was treated, how hard they had to fight to play, and how they were stopped from doing so, was interesting to read and important to be aware of. The fact that football is so strongly associated with men today is not an accident or inevitable, it is a situation the FA deliberately created.
August 30, 2022
Such a fascinating read on how it took so long for the FA to actually recognize the importance of womens football. As someone new in England hearing all about men’s football nonstop, it’s really refreshing to hear about the women and what they had to overcome to get where they are now. Would love to continue reading to hear what happened after the FA finally repealed the ban.
January 10, 2024
Really enjoyed this history book, taking a lot from the surrounding social economic times and shown how womens football grew and how/why the FA banned it. Parts made me chuckle (in an eye roll way) and some were beyond belief - a good read about women struggle 1880-1920 and about the history of football
December 1, 2024
Tim Tate's narration on Murder By the Sea is excruciating. One reviewer described it as sounding as if there is a full stop after every word.
But this is a very good read. However, he fails to mention the most amazing fact about women's football. It is possible to get a number of women together in one place all willing to wear identical outfits.
But this is a very good read. However, he fails to mention the most amazing fact about women's football. It is possible to get a number of women together in one place all willing to wear identical outfits.
July 21, 2019
Disappointing account of such an interesting subject matter. Lazily-written, barely referenced, and oddly-paced.
August 3, 2022
An engaging history of women's British football from the Victorians through the 1920s. Tate keeps his canvas pretty broad - he rarely spends time on the field, and is much more interested in writing about political, technological, and social histories and how the game intersects with them. He makes great use of texts from the period, quoting extensively to show how much these women were up against - it's just a great book with a terrible, terrible title.
November 28, 2024
A good overview of the history of women's football in England up to the 1920s, examining the evidence available and trying to develop a coherent, neutral story. The author is a documentary maker and, by his own admission, primarily a rugby fan rather than a football fan. At times it shows and inevitably niggles slightly for those of us who are football-focused. It's minor but his description of a two woman defence, two woman midfield and six woman attack as "6-2-2-1" rather than "2-2-6" annoyed me a lot more than was healthy. Other little pedantic irritants: either put "FC" at the end of club names consistently or don't use it (preferably the latter) but don't mix and match; 61 games in a season is not an "unthinkable schedule", it's fairly standard for clubs in League One to National League once you include friendlies; Stockport County (not "Stockport City") v Leicester in 1921 attracted thirteen paying spectators but a couple of thousand cheapskates remained behind from a Manchester United reserves game that had just been played; (not football-related) the Central Powers fought the First World War, not the Axis. Phew. It also would have helped to have a fuller explanation of Nettie Honeyball, who looms large in the early chapters before we're suddenly informed that she didn't exist, only for her to reappear a few paragraphs later and in the pictures section. In fact, Honeyball was a pseudonym of a player who still hasn't been definitively identified (a Mary Hutson is most often named but there's still doubt) but I'd rather have learned that from the book than Wikipedia!
In saying all that, the book is a generally sober account of a time that is overlooked and, when it is covered, attracts a lot of myth-making and side-taking. Drawing heavily from contemporary newspapers (Tate's documentary background comes through here, as it's hard not to read them in accents) he is able to demonstrate how Dick, Kerr Ladies became a phenomenon but by virtue of a combination of a very hostile Football Association, mismanagement, dodgy finances and the novelty wearing off they disappeared from public consciousness and ultimately from existence. Undoubtedly the FA are the villains of the piece (even if interest had waned there was still the basis of a sustainable sport and the men's game has experienced peaks and troughs throughout its history) and it was this century before they really took an active interest, but the book doesn't overlook wider circumstances, which is very much to its credit.
The hackneyed footballs/testicles pun in the title made me a little wary of this book but in the end what I got was a well-considered attempt to tease out the story of a shadowy time in the game's history. Fortunately women's football has emerged from the shadows and is now part and parcel of the modern sport (no matter how much the Joey Bartons of this world don't like it) but the early history still makes for a fascinating story.
In saying all that, the book is a generally sober account of a time that is overlooked and, when it is covered, attracts a lot of myth-making and side-taking. Drawing heavily from contemporary newspapers (Tate's documentary background comes through here, as it's hard not to read them in accents) he is able to demonstrate how Dick, Kerr Ladies became a phenomenon but by virtue of a combination of a very hostile Football Association, mismanagement, dodgy finances and the novelty wearing off they disappeared from public consciousness and ultimately from existence. Undoubtedly the FA are the villains of the piece (even if interest had waned there was still the basis of a sustainable sport and the men's game has experienced peaks and troughs throughout its history) and it was this century before they really took an active interest, but the book doesn't overlook wider circumstances, which is very much to its credit.
The hackneyed footballs/testicles pun in the title made me a little wary of this book but in the end what I got was a well-considered attempt to tease out the story of a shadowy time in the game's history. Fortunately women's football has emerged from the shadows and is now part and parcel of the modern sport (no matter how much the Joey Bartons of this world don't like it) but the early history still makes for a fascinating story.
March 12, 2022
The tale of the very early days of Women’s football, especially during the years of World War I when there was no men’s football, and how its huge popularity really didn’t suit the old, male duffers who ran the FA. Huge amounts of money were raised for charitable purposes but this mattered not. Football was for manly men, not girls - girly ones, or otherwise - and ladies ought not to play because their taking part might hamper their perceived duty of repopulating the nation following the carnage of Flanders Fields. I’ve loved the round ball game for more than half a century and I find the attitude of the men that ran it at the time shameful. Things eventually changed but not for a very long time.
A fascinating read regarding a facet of the Beautiful Game about which I knew almost nothing.
Recommended.
A fascinating read regarding a facet of the Beautiful Game about which I knew almost nothing.
Recommended.
January 5, 2016
An enjoyable read which adds to the mounting literature surrounding women's football and the Dick, Kerr's Ladies. The author was not afraid to air his own somewhat pithy views at times and I think I now have some fresh ideas to expand upon and do some rewriting of my play, 'Not a Game for Girls' especially the section covering the effective banning of women's football in December 1921 by the short sighted FA.
March 30, 2021
I brought this book to learn more about the history of womens football. However, I learnt more about the history of the first World War than of womens football. While parts were good and interesting, I found it very difficult to get into as it didn't focus on the main issue of the book.
I wish there had been more between 1992 and 2011 on how womens football had progressed in that time if at all, knowing the success it is achieving in 2021.
I wish there had been more between 1992 and 2011 on how womens football had progressed in that time if at all, knowing the success it is achieving in 2021.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews