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.

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