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Women's Football
After a catastrophic FA ban in 1921, how did the women’s game rise from the ashes?
Football is the most popular sport in the world, and is played anywhere from pitches marked out in desert dust, to warzones with helmets for goalposts. But it’s still predominantly a male sport.
So what about the roots of women’s football in the UK? How did social change in the First World War contribute to its sudden growth? And after a catastrophic ban from the FA in 1921, how did the women’s game rise from the ashes?
This is a Short History of Women’s Football.
Written by Lindsay Galvin. With thanks to Jean Williams, author and professor of sports history.
