It is important to question the relevance of sport history and to recognize our failings and our successes if we are to ensure the genre develops and contributes to society. While sport historians recognize the value, outside of this sphere, it is apparent that the subject is not always recognized for its significance. In this paper, it is argued that sport historians have a responsibility to engage more with the media and the public, while seeking opportunities to collaborate with sports organizations to ensure the subject is relevant and can develop. It is also argued that minority groups are under-represented in the sport history community, arguing that it is incumbent upon sport historians to ensure greater engagement and promotion of these groups. The paper concludes by urging those engaged in sport history to promote the discipline and develop opportunities for others.
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The Women’s Euros start tomorrow with the opening match at Old Trafford between England and Austria. There are lots of great activities planned to coincide with the Euros and I’d like to take the opportunity to talk a little about some of what’s occurred as part of the Trafford element of the Heritage Lottery Funded project. Even if you’re not particularly interested in Trafford it’d be worth having a look at this to get a feel for how the project has gone and how you may be able to help track down former players, teams & more.
I’ve been working on a temporary basis with Trafford to capture the stories of women, teams & more, while also staging a few events and researching the history of women’s football within Trafford. My time with the project will end soon but it has been a great experience. So far we’ve managed to interview women who have been playing football either for Trafford based clubs or women who are from Trafford who have played for teams outside the borough. There have also been interviews with women who played significant games in Trafford.
A website has been set up to tell the stories and so far we’ve posted a few of those covering teams, games & players. There are further stories to be posted over the coming weeks but take a look here at the ones posted so far:
Audio interviews have been performed with a variety of former players of teams such as Sale United, Trafford Ladies, Manchester Corinthians, Manchester United, Manchester City, FC Redstar, England and the Merseyside club Leasowe Pacific who won the FA Cup in 1989 at Old Trafford.
We also held a session where young girls from Sale United met with former Corinthians, City & United players to talk about their careers and compare experiences.
Last Friday we staged a talk at the National Football Museum on the History of Women’s Football with particular emphasis on the experiences and landmark moments of Trafford & Manchester’s women footballers. Jan Lyons of Manchester Corinthians & Juventus and Lesley Wright of Manchester Corinthians & Manchester City participated in a panel discussion too with some great questions from the audience.
Photo by Rachel Adams for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Arts and Heritage programme
An exhibition, including objects such as a 1958 Manchester Corinthians shirt and boots signed by Steph Houghton, is currently being staged at the archives centre at Sale.
Displays around Old Trafford have also been set up with the national history of women’s football appearing alongside Trafford bespoke monoliths close to Hotel Football and the Old Trafford Stadium. If you’re at the game go and have a look.
Photo by Rachel Adams for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Arts and Heritage programme
There are also postboxes decorated with knitted women footballers that have been produced by the local knitting groups as part of the project. If you’re wandering around Trafford have a look for them.
On Wednesday I will be with the Trafford Archives staff at the fanzone at Old Trafford during the day where we will be distributing free postcards and a Trafford football history booklet. We’ll also be answering questions about the history of football in the region and I’ll be hoping to capture the memories of those who played for women’s teams in Trafford too. Come and say hello if you’re there during the day time.
Also, look out for the FSA free Euros guide. I’ve contributed material on Trafford’s history so please look out for that.
Finally, I’m still keen to capture the stories of women’s football in Trafford. If you are from Trafford, or played for a Trafford based club then get in touch and let’s ensure your story is captured for future generations.
Johnny Hart joined City at the age of 16 in December 1944 and went on to make a total of 177 League and Cup appearances, scoring 73 goals. A skilful inside-right, Hart later had a highly successful coaching career with the Blues, and a spell as manager in 1973. Here’s an interview I did with him at City’s stadium shortly before Christmas 2004
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Roy Little was a key member of the exciting FA Cup final sides of 1955 and 1956. Born in Manchester in 1931, Roy made his City debut in 1953 and went on to play 186 League and FA Cup games for the Blues. Here for subscribers is an interview I did with him in August 2004
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PressRelease: Appeal launched to recognise the pioneering Manchester Corinthians women’s team
• Appeal launched to create permanent tributes to the pioneering Manchester Corinthian Ladies Football Club at Fog Lane Park, Didsbury
• The Corinthians and their sister club Manchester Nomads toured the globe promoting football, Manchester and female endeavour
• The club was established in January 1949 and was a key part of Manchester’s sporting life for around 40 years
• Established at Fog Lane, the club was based there for the first 25 years of its existence
• The appeal aims to erect a plaque, a lectern-style display and create a mural by a local artist in Fog Lane Park
The first ever appeal by the Friends of Fog Lane Park has been launched in partnership with Manchester City Council, MCRActive and supporters, players and researchers of the awe-inspiring Manchester Corinthians, and their sister club, the Nomads. The aim is to establish permanent visual tributes to the Corinthians and Nomads. The Friends are seeking to raise £10,000 and deliver in stages significant tributes to these remarkable women who played and promoted football at a time when a FA ban was in place.
The main aims are to:
– install a plaque at Fog Lane Park highlighting the achievements of the club and stage a celebratory unveiling with former players
– erect a lectern-style information display, close to the actual pitch the women utilised, detailing the Corinthians’ achievements over the decades with the aim of inspiring young girls and others with their story
– Recruit a local artist to paint a specially commissioned Manchester Corinthians mural on an appropriate building within the park
The appeal aims to deliver each of these objectives in stages as funds allow.
Football historian Dr Gary James has been researching the story of the Manchester Corinthians for several years and explains: ‘Both the Corinthians and the Nomads have been significant Manchester teams over many decades. They gave opportunities for women to play football at a time when the FA stubbornly claimed the sport was unsuitable for them. They toured the world demonstrating all that was good about Manchester, football and female endeavour, winning major competitions and raising a lot of money for charity.
‘Manchester is known as a footballing city and we have been blessed with some incredible successes over the decades, but our major contribution to the history of women’s football from the 1940s has not been given the recognition it deserves. There are statues, plaques and other tributes to men’s football across Greater Manchester yet there’s nothing permanent on the women of Manchester Corinthians. It’s time we rectified that.’
The Corinthians raised a considerable amount for charity over their existence and now it’s time to raise funds to thank them for their efforts by erecting permanent tributes.
How to contribute to the appeal: Contributions can be made via this link:
Margaret Whitworth, Karen Bardsley, Margaret Shepherd & Gary James
About Manchester Corinthians and Manchester Nomads
The Manchester Corinthians were a team of local women who were brought together under the management of Percy Ashley at a time when the FA banned women from playing on FA affiliated grounds. Established in 1949, Ashley’s team toured the world promoting the sport and demonstrating what a dedicated group of players the club possessed. This was at a time when FA affiliated clubs were banned from allowing women’s games on their grounds.
Many of the Corinthians are now in their seventies and eighties but they still get together from time to time to talk of their exploits. In 1957 Bert Trautmann, the Manchester City men’s goalkeeper joined them on a tour of Germany, acting as an ambassador for the club. Corinthians, representing England, won a major competition in Germany which was, at the time, regarded as a women’s European Cup – these were the early days of cross-continent football and UEFA were not involved with organising competitions for the women’s game.
In 1960 the Corinthians ventured outside of Europe for a tour of South America where they won a major international tournament and played in front of significant crowds, including one reported as 60,000. Margaret Whitworth had joined the club as an eleven-year-old in 1958 and was fourteen when she travelled to South America. Her parents had to give permission but some of the women also gave up their jobs for the opportunity of representing Manchester – and England – on the tour. Margaret: “What a great experience for us all! The stadiums… the reception from the crowd… it was all incredible but we all just took it in our stride. It’s only afterwards that you look back and realise how significant it all was.”
A second team was established by Percy Ashley as time progressed called the Nomads. Ashley wanted the Corinthians and Nomads to promote all that was positive about female participation in football and they certainly achieved that over the decades. They won a host of tournaments and trophies over the years and in 1970 defeated Juventus in the final of a competition in France.
Manchester Corinthians survived into the modern era and continued to play once the FA ban was lifted – a ban they had challenged. The club was still going strong in the 1980s but, due to ground changes and related issues it soon officially changed its name to Woodley Ladies, though was often still known as Corinthians. Some of the Corinthian players from the 1970s and 1980s became players with Manchester City’s women’s team in its inaugural season of 1988-89. By that time the volume of women’s clubs, leagues and competitions had grown.
The Corinthians were true pioneers, promoting the sport globally at a time when many refused to accept that women could play football.
About the Friends of Fog Lane Park
The Friends of Fog Lane Park are a volunteer friends group who work to improve Fog Lane Park for all, they have worked well with Manchester City Council and other bodies to repurpose a disused building in the park, creating a cafe space and providing much needed bathroom facilities, running community events, and looking after the park’s green spaces with volunteers looking after all the planted beds within the park. They have great links through the local park community and were close to losing this important history to both the park and women’s football.
Starting around this time last year (and going on for the following 35 weeks) I posted an image of a football ground taken in the past every Monday as a challenge to see if you could recognise the ground. Some were easy, others not so. If you missed them you can now go through each week’s ground and the answers. You can start here:
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While searching through my articles earlier this week I spotted a piece I wrote in 2019-20 on Manchester City’s support. Back then I became somewhat frustrated with a series of articles criticising City’s support. There were a number of ridiculous comments by some and so I wrote a piece challenging some of these views.
I’m not certain all the points are still valid (though City fans have received some significant abuse since 2020 too!) but readers can be the judge of that. Anyway, here’s the article for those who missed it back then:
Join Dr Gary James for a free event at the National Football Museum celebrating the history of women’s football. The event kicks off with a first half during which Gary outlines the history of women’s football locally with stories of games played in Trafford in the 1890s; the sport’s growth in the early twentieth century; the 1921 FA ban and its local impact; the pioneering teams and individuals of the interwar and post war years; then the game’s rise and development throughout to the modern day. With particular emphasis on games and teams from Trafford and Manchester this promises to be an entertaining talk.
The second half sees former players from the pioneering Manchester Corinthians, Manchester City and the original Manchester United women’s teams will be interviewed about their careers. Their experiences and enthusiasm for the sport provide a valuable insight into over sixty years of football history. Trafford and Manchester have a proud history of women’s football and this event will explain how the women ensured the game developed despite a near fifty-year ban and other obstacles placed in their way.
Panelists are Jan Lyons, Lesley Wright & Jane Morley (see below for biographical details).
Although the talk is free tickets must be booked in advance via the following link:
Following the Aberfan disaster in 1966 in which 116 children and 28 adults were killed a charity match was set up at Jan’s school between the boys and the girls. Jan was by far the best player, outshining all others to win the ‘man of the match’ award.
Her parents saw a piece in a newspaper advertising trials for the Manchester Corinthians and Jan relished the opportunity. She was offered the chance to join the club in February 1968.Jan participated in all the Corinthians prominent games of the period, including the annual Stretford Pageant, which was perceived as a prominent exhibition of the sport.
In 1970 Jan was a member of the Corinthians team which defeated crack Italian team Juventus in the final of the Reims tournament in France. This ultimately led to her joining Juventus in 1973. When she resigned from her work at a local bank, her manager was amazed that she was leaving a banking career to play football.
Some suggested to Jan that if she played in Italy opportunities to play for England would end but, with typical determination, Jan believed that playing in Italy, where there was a strong league structure in place, was a great opportunity.
Lesley Wright
Lesley Wright joined Manchester Corinthians in the early 1970s, participating in their tours and in league competition. She became a regular for the club and remained with them into the 1980s when a ground move led to the famous old club changing its name to Woodley Ladies.
Lesley continued to play for the club through to 1988-89 when she joined the newly established Manchester City. Playing in mostly a defensive role, she became an influential member of Manchester’s Blues as they competed in their first competitive season of 1989-90. She remained with the club into the 2000s. She has guested for other teams in the region, including Manchester United.
She has fulfilled a variety of coaching roles with Manchester City and also at Stockport County.
In recent years she has taken up walking football and in 2022 is the manager of Droylsden’s women’s walking football team. She also became captain of the England Walking Football over 60s regional squad.
Jane Morley
Jane Morley joined the original Manchester United women’s team in the late 1970s, staying with them for six successful years. In 1985, together with other United players, she established FC Redstar and took the team into the North West Women’s Regional Football League where they achieved promotion in 1987 to the top division – at the time the highest league competition available. Playing in Stretford, FC Redstar impressed but player recruitment issues brought a premature end to the club in 1990.
Once her playing days were over Jane coached and managed at various levels with Manchester City Ladies for many years. Always keen to promote football to young girls Jane enjoyed developing an array of talent with the club. She also brought success to the club and managed the first team for a spell when they were based in Urmston, Trafford.
After leaving City Jane continued to develop opportunities for girls and young women within both Greater Manchester and in Cheshire.
In 2022 she is secretary of Stockport County’s women’s team and has dedicated her adult life to promoting football for women and girls.
Dr Gary James is working for Trafford Archives on the Women’s Euros Heritage project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
In the 1980s Manchester City fans demonstrated the positive side of football during a troubled decade for the sport. Despite being one of England’s top four clubs and the third best supported side in the League, the Blues suffered a shock relegation in 1983. Financial issues and an inability to invest meant the club relied on two of its greatest strengths – youth football and the loyalty of City’s fans. Young players like Paul Simpson, Paul Moulden, Ian Brightwell, David White, Paul Lake and Andy Hinchcliffe, ensured the Blues had a chance of re-establishing themselves on the pitch, while off the pitch a dedicated following was the envy of the majority of clubs.
City fans not only turned out in their numbers – they were the sixth best supported side in 1983-84 and 1988-89 (second tier seasons) – but they also brought great humour to football. The most newsworthy story involving fans during this period was the inflatable banana craze.
Rather than spell out every moment from that era, here are a few snippets on how the craze started and how it progressed.
– A dedicated City fan called Frank Newton took a 5ft 6in demonstration banana to City V Plymouth on 15 August 1987. It caused some amusement.
– Newton took the banana to away games, including the match against Oldham at Boundary Park. The fans were drenched; morale was low as Oldham equalised; and yet the banana continued to be waved throughout the game, bringing much needed humour to a depressing game.
– Other inflatables began appearing and by the end of the season a chant for striker Imre Varadi to the tune of the Israeli folk song Hava Nagila was adapted with the word banana replacing Varadi. The banana craze was not a tribute to Varadi (this has frequently been misreported in recent years due to an incorrect news report from the period that wrongly claimed the craze was a direct tribute to Varadi – it wasn’t), but chants utilising his name could easily be adapted to use banana instead of his surname.
– For the last game of the 1987-88 season the City fanzine Blue Print, edited by Mike Kelly, urged fans to take a blow up banana to Crystal Palace on the last day of the season. Around 50 bananas made it on to the terraces that day and the scene was set for supporters to enlarge on this in 1988-89.
– By the time the new season began the inflatable bananas had grown in number but so too had the variety of inflatable – sharks, Frankensteins, crocodiles, dinosaurs plus many more.
– The craze grew throughout 1988-89 and then on Boxing Day an appeal by the fanzines led to over 12,000 City fans in fancy dress and carrying inflatables, descending on Stoke’s Victoria Ground. The capacity was a little over 24,000 and Stoke handed over two full sides of the ground to City fans. Even the players came on to the pitch with inflatables (which they also did v Leicester in January 1989).
– A company that made inflatable bananas increased production to help satisfy the craze, while Fyffes began to sponsor games at City. Thousands of inflatables appeared at some games.
– The craze was copied across English football but it was City fans that were heralded as the ones who had put the fun back into football.
During a decade of disaster, tragedy and much negativity within football City fans demonstrated there could be another way and fans became internationally renowned for their humour. The craze ultimately died out, although bananas continued to appear on occasion or in limited numbers over the years.
In 2010-11 City’s FA Cup run brought the bananas back as a nostalgia craze and this has continued to some extent, though nowhere near in the numbers of the late 1980s.Maybe it’s time to bring back the inflatables in great numbers?
On this day (June 16) in 1947 the Western Mail carried this match report of Manchester City’s 5-0 victory over Newport County, which was played on June 14. The game was remarkable for a number of reasons:
Prior to the 2019-20 Covid affected season this was the club’s latest finish to a season. 2019-20 ended in August (Champions League) with the League campaign ending on July 26 2020. The 1946-47 season had been affected by snow and frozen pitches, causing many games to be postponed.
City played with only ten men for much of the second half due to an injury to Billy Walsh
The Blues won 5-1 with George Smith scoring all five goals. No player has ever scored more goals for the Blues in a League game (Sergio Aguero of course also scored 5 v Newcastle in October 2015). Denis Law did score 6 goals in a FA Cup tie v Luton but this was abandoned and wiped from the records.
Roy Clarke made his City debut and, as City were promoted, he became the first man to play 3 successive league games in 3 different divisions when he appeared in his next City game. He’d joined from Cardiff (Division 3); made his City debut in Division 2 then played in Division 1. Subscribers can read more about Roy Clarke here:
City had achieved promotion over a month earlier (May 10) when they defeated Burnley 1-0 in front of a Maine Road crowd of 69,463. You can read about that game here:
Gary James' Football Archive 