On This Day – 23rd March
On 23rd March 1895, the first official women’s football match took place. The match was played between a Northern XI and Southern XI, ending in a 7-1 win for the Northerners. There is a picture of the victorious Northern team at the bottom of the article.
One of the main driving forces behind getting the women’s football starting was a lady called Nettie Honeyball. This was a pseudonym and her real name is unknown.
Nettie was the founder of the British Ladies’ Football Club, the first known women’s football club. She placed adverts in newspapers to try and get players to join the club and around 12,000 fans attended the Ladies early games.
The Football Association banned women’s football from FA pitches in 1921, fearing that it may impact on the men’s game. This ban lasted for an incredible 50 years until it was finally lifted in 1971.
Interest in the women’s game has boomed in recent years, with the game getting more media attention than ever before.
An incredible 77,768 fans went to watch England and Germany ladies in November last year . In the same month, a league-record 38,262 fans went to watch the Tottenham and Arsenal Ladies team play.
Nettie Honeyball is in the top row, second from the left
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