On this day (April 13) in 2014 Manchester City’s women’s team played its first competitive game after the relaunch. It was a FA Cup tie against Reading played at the Regional Athletics Arena.
Here for subscribers is a section of Manchester City Women: An Oral History discussing that opening game:
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I’m delighted to say that a revised and updated edition of Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History will be published this year. As with the first edition this book will be non-profit. Also, anyone ordering a copy now will get their name published in the book as a supporter of the project. Copies can be ordered now (see below). This promises to build further on the original book, viewed as a landmark publication. Income from the book will continue to be used to promote these remarkable women; stage events for them and capture their stories for posterity. Over fifty Corinthians were interviewed for the first edition and others have been found and interviewed for this updated version. This includes additional Corinthians from the 1940s, adding to the three founding Corinthians interviewed for the first edition. Their voices are so important to the story of this remarkable club.
I’m determined to ensure all Corinthians are remembered so please also get in touch if you’re a Corinthian who may have slipped through the net somehow.
Order before 1 July 2026 and you will get your name published within a special roll of honour within the book and it will be sent out to all subscribers on publication at the start of October 2026. This will be before it appears in any shop. Sadly, due to postage costs the book can only be posted to UK addresses. You do not need to have a PayPal account to order – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button below and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.
UK ONLY – one copy of Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History 2nd edition (paperback)
The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This is for one paperback book at £19.95 ()incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs.
£19.95
Opportunities to buy multiple copies, sponsor the book or donate exist too. Please email Gary@GJFootballArchive.com for more information on those opportunities. For those wishing to order ten copies then a special panel will be included within the book thanking you for supporting the Corinthians’ project & book, plus you’ll get ten copies for the discounted total of £150 (including UK deliver).
UK ONLY – Ten copies of Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History 2nd edition (paperback)
The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This is for ten paperback books at £150 (incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs.
£150.00
Note: the cover is currently being redesigned and is likely to be different to the ones shown here.
Four years ago I worked on a project for the Women’s Euros capturing the stories of women who played football in the Trafford area. This included several Corinthians and other women who played in local football. Even if you’re not particularly interested in Trafford it’d be worth having a look at this to get a feel for the stories of these players and clubs.
I worked 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 was a great experience. I managed to interview women who played football either for Trafford based clubs or women who are from Trafford who played for teams outside the borough. There were also interviews with women who played significant games in Trafford and those videod are free to view via the name tabs to the right on the following website. This website was set up to tell the stories and we’ve posted a few of those covering teams, games & players. Take a look here at the ones posted:
Audio interviews were 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.
I 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, was staged at the archives centre at Sale.
Displays around Old Trafford were also set up with the national history of women’s football appearing alongside Trafford bespoke monoliths close to Hotel Football and the Old Trafford Stadium.
Photo by Rachel Adams for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Arts and Heritage programme
There were also postboxes decorated with knitted women footballers that were produced by the local knitting groups as part of the project.
Finally, I’m still capturing the stories of women’s football in Manchester as a whole and last week I did my latest interview with a Corinthian. Over 50 were interviewed for the Authorised History book and I continue to record and document their story using interviews, archival material and other research to capture the facts not the fiction of their existence.
My aim, as always, is to ensure stories of Manchester’s football history is captured for future generations.
Research by Dr Gary James led to the history of women’s football in Trafford being documented as part of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Arts and Heritage programme
For International Women’s Day last year I staged a talk on this date (5 March) last year on the Manchester Corinthians at Manchester Central Library. It was a great night and wonderful once again to hear so many interested in the story. The addition of Corinthians in the audience added to the event. They truly are remarkable women and there are so many angles to this wonderful football team that toured the globe between 1948 (yes, 1948 and not 1949 as often reported) and 1992. This talk was one of many events I’ve performed over the last decade or so in which I discuss the Corinthians. You can find details about some of the others elsewhere on the site. For those who want to find out more…
Firstly, Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History. This non profit book (every penny is used to stage events for the Corinthians and to further fund talks etc.) is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and consists of 356 pages. It is illustrated throughout and you can order it now for £25 (including UK postage and packaging).
If you live outside the UK then please contact for details of additional postage costs.
You do not need to have a PayPal account to order – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button above and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.
UK ONLY – Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History
The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This will be published in late December 2024. This is UK only at £25 (incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs.
£25.00
Next, here’s the wonderful 18 minute film put together by Imprint Films on the Corinthians. It includes brief interviews with a small group of the women I interviewed (I’ve interviewed over 50 Corinthians for the book and self funded project, including three women who played in the first season of 1948-49) plus I help to explain why they are so significant.
Had another enjoyable day today catching up with a couple of Manchester Corinthians Ladies FC players (2 of over 50 interviewed for the book). One had tracked down a couple of missing trophies won by the Corinthians – one of these was the first league title won by the club. More on this soon.
There’s plenty of articles and features on the Corinthians here of course. I’ve known some of the Corinthians for almost 40 years (my wife played with some former Corinthians) and both my brother and sister were taught by another at secondary school.
Last week I was at Boston College in Dublin for a special Ireland launch of ‘Histories of Women’s Football in Britain and Ireland’ – a book I’ve co-edited with Fiona Skillen & Helena Byrne. It was a great night enlivened by the wonderful stories of women who played football in Ireland during the 60s-90s. We were delighted with the support we received and were thrilled with the stories we heard. Thanks to Mike Cronin and all at Boston College for organising this. Special thanks too to Helena who was rightly determined to do something in Dublin.
The book is of course something I’m delighted with and we were blessed with so many wonderful writers who supplied content/chapters for the book. I wrote a chapter on the history of women’s football in Trafford – it often gets lumped into Manchester’s history but the chapter (as do most of the chapters in the book) demonstrates why every district, area, town, city and country needs its own focus. For too long people have assumed that what happens in one location happens in another, but this is not the case.
You can find out more on the book here or by visiting the Peter Lang (publisher) website:
Great to see the Corinthians’ stories are spreading at the moment and look forward to further stuff over the coming months. If anyone wants to know anything about this incredible club, established in 1948-49 and playing on for over 40 years, then please get in touch. I’ve interviewed over 50 Corinthians as part of a decade long project which has resulted in blue plaques, media attention, documentaries (UK & South America) and of course the Authorised History book. If you know little about this team then take a look at the following:
Firstly, the book: Over 50 Corinthians interviewed covering every season with three players from 1948-49 covered, as well as women who were there right at the end. Hundreds of images and much more. See:
Next… The video aimed at South American audiences and Portuguese speakers (I’ve been working with Luis for some time on this as I knew he could help get the Corinthians‘ story out in South America). Obviously it’s aimed at Brazil rather than Venezuela but this is great coverage. Here’s a link to the Portuguese language film he’s done here too:
The latest Corinthian article and video has been produced. This one is aimed at South American audiences and Portuguese speakers. I’ve been working with Luis for some time on this as I knew he could help get the Corinthians‘ story out in South America. Obviously it’s aimed at Brazil rather than Venezuela but this is great coverage. His article was picked up by a national media company and can be read here. Also, there’s a link to the Portuguese language film he’s done here too:
Great coverage and already he’s been getting interest from Brazilians who had no idea. Hopefully, the news will spread further in South America. Thanks again to all that have helped with getting the stories out there.
Congratulations to Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw on becoming the first Manchester City Women player to score 100 goals since the relaunch of the club. It’s a wonderful feat and she deserves immense praise. Here’s City’s report of today’s (14 December 2025) 6-1 victory over Aston Villa which saw Shaw score 4 goals:
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