Longridge:
And the Scandalous Women Footballers

Longridge is a sleepy little market town, population several thousand, lying eight miles to the north-east of Preston in Lancashire. Remarkably, it has two claims to fame regarding women’s football. The first claim is that the most famous women’s football team in the world played there in front of 7,000 spectators and the second is that due to a later game of women’s football it caused a headline in the national newspaper the Daily Mirror:

Girls’ Soccer “Not Proper”

Below is a picture of the actual game from the Lancashire Evening Post

Some Women’s Football History

St Helen’s Ladies AFC

In April 1920 well known local side the Dick Kerr Ladies of Preston were catapulted to national and international fame due to the visit of the unbelievably glamorous French football team for a four game tour. Forming their regular domestic opponents over the years were the second greatest team of the era, St Helens Ladies AFC, whom they played about 20 times. However, it was not until their final game on 31 March 1923 that St Helens were able to impose their will on the Dick Kerr Ladies with a 5 to 1 thrashing. The famous Lily Parr scored the one consolation goal for the Dick Kerr Ladies. The game was played at the Queen’s Park in St Helens and in August 2024 I had the great honour of helping the Mayor of St Helens plus guests to unveil a blue plaque in their honour.

This was St Helens final game. My granny, Lizzy Ashcroft, together with St Helens stalwarts Susie Chorley and Lydia Ackers were signed to the Dick Kerr Ladies and went on to have lengthy careers with the Preston side. 1923 continued to be a difficult year for the Dick Kerr Ladies as they lost 2 v 0 to Scottish giants Rutherglen Ladies and 1 v 0 to Stoke Ladies. They then lost a lot of money on two ‘World Record’ floodlit games against Hey’s Ladies at Turf Moor Cricket Ground which was technologically many, many years ahead of the male game (the English FA actually banned floodlit football in 1930). Thanks to Major Cecil Kent they had the amazing 10 game tour of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland against French side Femina Sport in 1925, but this was only a brief respite after the 1926 national strike caused the team to cease. Again, Major Cecil Kent stepped in and helped to organise games at 1927 rural shows in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. The games were styled DKL vs Blackpool to reflect that the squad had a few Blackpool players and legendary ex-captain Alice Kell (125 Games!)  agreed to look after the teams.

1931 – Manager Alfred Frankland is Back

1931 Dick Kerr Ladies Back

The Lancashire Evening Post reported that the team had been reorganised and that Mr Alfred Frankland was once again in charge. The Post also reported that the average age of the Preston team was 20, height 5 ft 5½ in (1.66 metres) and weight 8 ½ stone. The photograph above is an original press photo from the filming at the architecturally stunning Blackpool Open Air Pool in November 1931. The clip is available to view on British Pathe. My granny, Lizzy Ashcroft, is the tall one at 5ft 8 in tall, standing next to Lily Parr. She is the one exercising in the white shoes.

If you read anything describing Lily Parr as over 6 foot tall then you know you are reading nonsense…

Clip: The Champions (1931)

http://www.britishpathe.com/asset/64625/

(When they are playing on the beach even I struggle to tell which one is Lily Parr and which one is my granny).

1931 Glamorous International Opponents – And Longridge

1931 Games against Mado, Quaker Girls, Molly Seaton

Opposition was not easy to find in this period so games were often styled Dick Kerr Ladies vs Rest of England but were really squad games. However, the entrepreneurial Alfred Frankland was back in charge so there were some important and famous international games played in this comeback year. In May, the legendary French captain, Madeleine ‘Mado’ Bracquemond had just married Eugene Jeannot and taking advantage of a weekend in Manchester an ‘anglo-French’ game was held at Stockport. The highlight of the year was possibly the game at Windsor Park in Belfast where the Irish XI led by the legendary Molly Seaton gave the DKL quite a run for their money, the DKL edging out a combative 3 v 2 win at the impressive National Stadium. This was followed by a tour to Wales which included a crowd of 7,000 at Swansea’s famous Vetch Stadium. Silver medals were awarded to the team, each inscribed with the players name.

July 1931 – Longridge Gala

On Wednesday 1 July the Dick Kerr Ladies journeyed to Darlington and played the famous Darlington Quaker Girls in front of a crowd of 12,000. Sandwiched in between the Darlington game and their 27 July trip to Belfast was the Longridge Gala, which took place on Saturday 11 July. The brief report in the Lancashire Evening Post stated:

“During Longridge Co-operative Society’s annual gala, on Saturday, Preston Ladies played Longridge Ladies at football and won 4 – 2. A crowd of several thousand watched the game.”

The very brief report doesn’t give a team list. However, the team list for the Belfast game gives an idea of who was likely to have played at Longridge: Maggie Shaw, C. Haworth, Lizzy Ashcroft, Lily Buxton, Edith Hutton, A Marsh, Lydia Ackers, Jenny Harris, Hilda Parkinson, Susie Chorley and Lily Parr.

The world famous Dick Kerr Ladies played in Longridge, in front of several thousand… and one of them was my granny. However, seven years later  when some local women from Longridge and nearby Grimsargh had the temerity to don shorts for the beautiful game, they received some unlikely opposition…

1938 – Girls Soccer “Not Proper” – Daily Mirror

Beccuse he doesn’t think Soccer is a “proper” game for women the Rev. Father O’ Sullivan, Roman Catholic priest of Alston, Lancashire, has refused an offer by two women’s teams to give the proceeds of a game to his church funds.

His action has divided the villagers of Grimsargh, where the two teams play, into two camps. Some approve of his action, others say that he is very high-handed.

A series of matches had been arranged between the single women and the married women of the village, and they approached Father O’Sullivan with the offer.

Courteously he turned it down, and yesterday he explained his reasons to the “Daily Mirror”.

“Football is not a proper game for women. I think it makes them look ridiculous and the subject of all sorts of jokes. Football may be all right for young girls, but definitely not for married women.”

Father O’Sullivan thinks the wearing of shorts by the players is absurd.

“If they wore skirts, then probably they would not get as many people at their matches.”

Following his refusal, the organisers of the match have decided to give the proceeds to the Mothers’ Union of another church.

NB: The rural village of Alston lies between Longridge and Grimsargh, approximately 7 miles north east of Preston and originally catholics from Longridge had to travel to Alston to hear mass.

1938 Tuesday 26 July – Longridge 2 v 1 Grimsargh

“Village Women’s Zest for Football in Shorts” – More Replies to Alston Priest

The Lancashire Evening Post ran a feature on the third game of the series, with the picture above. This was probably down to the Daily Mirror featuring the views of Father Sullivan on the previous day. This game was played in Longridge and there was a large attendance. The money was donated to the Liverpool Cancer Hospital. The post reported that Councillor William Hougton, who is pictured above starting the game, was a prominent member of Alston Roman Catholic Church and quoted him:

“Up to this game I did not know Father O’Sullivan’s opinion. But certainly, I do not think there is anything improper about the appearance of the young women tonight. They are quite adequately clothed and their deportment is exemplary.”

Nine women represented Grimsargh, including three married players: Mrs Belle Robinson, Mrs. Pimley and Mrs. A. Park and eight women represented Longridge. Goals were scored by Miss Ponsford for Grimsargh and Miss Byers and Miss Nellie Rhodes for Longridge. Mr. T. Ingham of Grimsargh who helped organise and referee the matches was quoted:

“These women and girls really enjoy the games. Naturally Father O’Sullivan is quite entitled to his own opinion about them.”

One interested observer of the game was the famous Dick Kerr Ladies manager, Alfred Frankland, who was always on the lookout for new talent to join the team. In a quirk of history, one of the players, a Miss Eileen Green, was the daughter of Annie Green (nee Hastie), one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the Dick Kerr Ladies.

 

Conclusion

Bans and Barriers

Women’s football was banned in 1902. Society was far from ready for working class women to engage in sport in the post-Victorian era, especially an impact sport which would ‘damage their breasts and internal organs’ and remove their ability to fulfil their ‘roles’ as mothers. It took a global war to make women’s football acceptable to society, but perhaps not generally to the individuals that made up that society. So, it was to no one’s great surprise that women’s football was sanctioned by the English FA on Monday 10 October 1921. This sanction was then formalised at the infamous ‘ban meeting’ on Monday 5 December 1921. (There has been, and continues to be an awful lot of nonsense written about this meeting). Over the next century women, particularly working class women, faced barriers in a whole range of sports and it would be extremely silly to put this all down to one meeting in 1921. It would also be foolish to ignore the weight of evidence of women of influence who played a significant part in the barriers above.

I think back to when I lived in Longridge. If you had told me back then that my Granny, after receptions at the houses of Parliament, Lord Mayor of London, Lord Mayor of Belfast, etc had played in the village in front of 7,000 I would not have believed you. I have over 100 lever arch folders of research going back to WW1 and one special folder is reserved for ‘barriers and bans’ – it is very full. To find Longridge featuring in the Daily Mirror was quite a shock. I would love to go back and meet Father O’Sullivan. I suspect that this was far more about control than prudery, but maybe the two things are connected? I will stop now before I get myself in trouble.

 

Copyright: Steve Bolton – January 2024