SHOULD women play football?
The answer from several directions is an emphatic “No.” Men dismiss the idea as ungraceful; medical opinion says it is unwise; and the Football Association says it is ridiculous.
But the women who play it say it is a fine, healthy game, and they are hoping that more and more women will take it up. Women have invaded masculine territory in most sports. They have gained laurels in cricket, golf, motor racing, billiards—the list is impressive. Is man’s last citadel in the sporting world to fall? Or is football too much of a man’s game for women ever to take serious part in it?
The odds are heavily against them. The Football Association flatly refuse to recognise women’s football, and consequently adequate training is impossible. The women players pick up what technique they can by practice. Grounds and referees are hard to come by.
Local matches attract an average of 1,500. But the critics of women’s football say that novelty is the sole attraction.
Medical View
Medical opinion vetoes the game for women. In a statement to the illustrated Leicester Chronicle a woman doctor said “Football is scarcely a wise choice of sport for women. The risk of injury is much greater than it is for a man. From the psychological standpoint, women’s football encourages team spirit, but women can get this and all the exercise they need from other sports hockey for instance.
Mr Cyril Williamson, secretary of the Leicestershire Football Association commented, “We do not cater for women’s football. We never have done. It isn’t a woman’s game. We do not want to bring the game into disrepute to make our a Comic Cuts out of it. Some games are being played we know. They are promoted for various causes. But it is only a novelty, a flash in the pan.”
“Twenty years ago, a famous women’s team from Dick Kerr engineering from Preston began playing for charity up and down the country, but little has come of the idea. We shall not sanction any game, and no registered referee is able to take part. The games at Loughborough are played on Corporation-owned ground, so we cannot step in there.”
“Football is not a carpet slipper game. It’s essentially a man’s game. But there is no reference to women’s football in the F.A. rules. I do not think the situation warrants it.”
“Men hate the idea. They think it is taking emancipation too far,” is a typical feminine comment.
But listen to a woman footballer. Mrs. Dona Moore, captain of the Brush Engineering Works women’s football team. Loughborough. is a keen advocate for women in this unusual field of sport. She is the mother of an eleven-month-old child, looked after by a relative while she plays football.
Her team of enthusiastic players, ages 18 to 30 years, was recruited this season in answer to a Mayoral appeal for funds. Falling in with the spirit of the idea, 25 volunteers got themselves organised. They borrowed football boots from the boys, borrowed jerseys and shorts. They use the same ball as men. They play in any weather. Mrs. Moore says, “Football is a fine healthy game. You need to be tough for it’s strenuous, but not more strenuous than some other sports. You may feel a bit stiff afterwards but that is all. It’s an exciting game and it’s certainly gaining in popularity here. If our girls remain keen we hope to keep the going. Matches are played half an hour each way and the only man on the field is the referee. Already there is one bandaged ankle, the team’s first casualty. But the team are ready to take rough with the smooth.
Leicester Chronicle – Saturday 30 September 1950