A year ago today (2 December 2024) we had a wonderful celebration for the Manchester Corinthians – the incredible women’s team that toured the globe promoting football, Manchester and female endeavour. There were players there from every era of the Club’s existence with many in their 80s and 90s. It was a great celebration. Here are a few video clips and photos of what was a truly special day.

We’ll start with my welcome speech, which I hope explains the significance of the Corinthians to those who don’t know much about their story. I also welcomed a room of around 90 people…

Next two Corinthians who have been consistent promoters and advocates for the club over the years (decades, actually!): Margaret Shepherd and Anne Grimes. Margaret starts with thanks for the efforts to promote their story and then Anne reads her poem about legendary Manager Percy Ashley. Well worth listening to:

And now a special video. It starts with 90 year old Mary Bee speaking after receiving her copy of the Armstrong Projects North West Football Awards 2024 Special Recognition Award and ends with the Corinthians singing their anthem. An absolute must see!

A few key points from the reunion:

• Players from Manchester Corinthian Ladies Football Club held a reunion on Monday 2 December to mark over 75 years since their club was established
• Players from every era of the club attended, many in their 80s and 90s!
• The reunion was held at Manchester City’s Stadium, where around 90 people gathered, with the majority being former players
• Many players had not met since their playing days, in some cases for over sixty years
• There were also video calls to founding players (1948-49) in North Devon and the Unites States
• The reunion allowed former players to celebrate success at the Armstrong Projects Northwest Football Awards 2024 where they were presented with the Special Recognition Award for Services to Women’s Football. A similar award has since been made at the Manchester Sports Awards 2025.
• A month after the reunion the club’s Authorised History was published, telling the incredible stories of these remarkable women. Copies available via Amazon and other bookshops, plus copies can be ordered direct from me on this website.

This was the media release for the event:

Women from the pioneering women’s football team Manchester Corinthians held a reunion at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium on Monday (2 December 2024). In attendance were over 80 people, including over forty women who played for the club between 1948-49 and its final days over forty years later. 

Several players in attendance were in their 80s and 90s, playing for the club in its formative years. This included women who participated in trophy winning tours across Europe and South America during the fifties, sixties and seventies.

The Corinthians raised significant amounts of money for charity during their existence, while also promoting football and female endeavour at a time when participation in the sport was often frowned upon.

During the 1950s, playing as an unofficial England side, the Corinthians won a major European tournament in Germany and were supported on their travels by legendary Manchester City men’s goalkeeper Bert Trautmann.

In 1960 they found success in an unofficial ‘World Cup’ (officially the first ‘Torneo Internacional De Futbol Femenino’) in Venezuela as part of a significant tour of the West Indies and South America. Former player (outside right) Margaret Whitworth, who was present at the reunion, remembers: ‘We were treated like film stars. There were crowds everywhere we went. Playing in front of 56,000 was thrilling and the way women’s football was treated was so different to how it was back in England at the time. Here we had to play on park pitches or at other sports grounds, but there we played in major football stadiums.’

The reunion was organised by Dr Gary James who has been researching and promoting the Corinthians’ story for a decade. In recent years he led the project to erect a blue plaque to the team and later this month his book on the club, Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History, will be published. For the first time it tells the story of the club from formation through to its final game. Many of the Corinthians present at the reunion have been interviewed for the book, which is destined to become the definitive story of the club. Their achievements deserve this recognition. More on the book here: https://gjfootballarchive.com/order-manchester-corinthians-book/

Organiser Gary James, a Research Professor at New York University, commented: ‘This remarkable football club gave opportunities for women to play at a time when women’s football was banned by the FA. They toured the world but, more importantly, they played a part in developing women’s football for over forty years. Their players and officials created competition and helped to change the way women’s football was governed. Some of their players are still coaching and developing teams today. For several years I’ve wanted to help them gain recognition, not simply for one high profile moment, but for over seventy years of activity. The reunion was my thank you to all of them for what they achieved for football and Manchester.’

During the late 1960s the club’s management played a leading role in the creation of the Women’s Football Association. Both the Corinthians and their sister club the Nomads were founder members, and their manager Gladys Aikin became a member of the governing body’s committee. In fact, Gladys oversaw the Women’s FA international committee which instigated the first official England international team in 1972. Corinthian Jean Wilson played in the historic first official international and she was present on Monday too.  Gladys’s daughter Carol, a former goalkeeper with the Corinthians and a Women’s FA Cup winner with Fodens, was present at the reunion as memories of Gladys’s time were discussed.

Those attending the reunion talked fondly of the club’s original manager Percy Ashley, who was the driving force when the Corinthians toured the globe, winning tournaments and raising significant amounts for charity. After his death in 1967, the Corinthians continued to play and former players present on Monday remembered how, in the 1970s, they were frequently coached by the Manchester City 1956 FA Cup winner Dave Ewing at City’s Platt Lane training complex. 

Many of the Corinthians present went on to become players with Manchester City’s women’s team during its inaugural season of 1988-89. This includes Lesley Wright who continues to find success as the England Over 60s walking football captain. She also coaches women’s football at Stockport County, continuing the Corinthian influence through to the modern day development of the sport. 

About Manchester Corinthian Ladies Football Club 

Manchester Corinthian Ladies FC was an English football club founded during 1948-49. Its driving force was manager Percy Ashley. At this time the FA ban on women’s football using FA affiliated grounds was in place (from 1921; lifted in 1970). During the inaugural seasons the Corinthians played friendlies and in small scale competitions in the UK, but during the mid to late 1950s they embarked on a series of European tours.

Their fame grew and they received invites to play across Europe, in Africa and in South America. Occasionally playing as an unofficial England side in tournaments (these were the days before there was an official England team), they found success often, becoming the most successful women’s team by some distance. 

Under the management of Percy Ashley, followed by Gladys Aikin and then George Aikin, the Corinthians were important representatives of women’s football, both internationally and domestically, always contributing to the game’s growth and development.

The club spawned sister clubs, including Dynamo Ladies and the Nomads, who were also successful and often accompanied the Corinthians on tour and in competition. Both the Corinthians and Nomads became founder members of the Women’s Football Association.

Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History

This book is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and consists of over 350 pages. It is illustrated throughout and you can order it now for £25 (including UK postage and packaging).

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