The Pioneers of Women’s Soccer

By D R Bowen

The Pioneers of Women’s Soccer
This short book features two women’s soccer matches played in Coventry at the end of the Victorian era by the British Ladies’ Football Club, with details of some of the key characters involved, and events before and after the games.
The games took place in 1895 on the verge of great technological changes – and social changes, such as the suffragette movement which eventually lead to voting rights for women in the UK.
The two games played in Coventry were not stand-alone events. Between them, the British Ladies' Football Club, and its breakaway club, are recorded to have played more than 160 games in various parts of the British Isles.
One of the two games in Coventry was reported as the first women versus men soccer match in England, and Emma Clarke, the first recorded black female footballer, may have played in this game.

• Language: English
• Publisher: D R Bowen
• Release date: Jan 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215332368

D R Bowen

My love of football (soccer) and non-league football in particular began during my teenage years in Yorkshire following the exploits of two local teams. Forty years on, following a career mainly in manufacturing, I have been able to reconnect with this passion and combine it with my interest in the history of football clubs and any interaction they have with the community.

Book preview

The Pioneers of Women’s Soccer

Featuring two football matches in Coventry in 1895

By D R Bowen

Copyright July 2023 D R Bowen

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Two women’s football matches were played in Coventry in 1895. The second of these games possibly involved, the first recorded black woman player, Emma Clarke in the first documented women versus men football match in England. These games were played towards the end of the Victorian era and on the verge of considerable societal changes - including the evolving suffragette movement which eventually lead to voting rights for women in the UK. Worldwide, there was also some evidence of progress for women’s suffrage being made. By 1895, in the USA, the (then) territories of Wyoming and Utah had granted suffrage rights to women, and the nation of New Zealand had given women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

The two games played in Coventry were not stand-alone events, but organised by the British Ladies' Football Club and its breakaway club. The two clubs are known to have played more than 160 games between them across the British Isles.

The British Ladies' Football Club

To many sports fans, women’s football appeared to come into being and prominence during the last few decades. However, the first recorded organised women’s game was in the 1880’s – fewer than 20 years after the Football Association (FA) in England was founded and consolidated various sets of rules for the game into one. The FA was formed in 1863, exclusively by, and intended for, men. The new set of rules agreed by the FA in 1863 were based on those used by Cambridge University, complemented by formalised rules of some public schools such as Uppingham, plus those developed by separate teams in the Sheffield area in 1857.

During the late Victorian period in the United Kingdom, the Women’s Rights Movement was gaining some momentum,