My Moment in History: Kicking Off the Women’s Game looks back 50 years to pinpoint what was to become a historical change for women’s football.
It’s a story that begins in 1972, when 22 players took to an almost-frozen pitch at a bitterly cold Ravenscraig Stadium in Scotland.
This BBC local radio podcast goes back to that first official women’s international football match – Scotland v England – exploring how it paved the way to where we are today.
The historic match which took place in Greenock on 18 November 1972, was a five-goal thriller in which England came from behind to win 3-2.
Available on BBC Sounds from today, the podcast looks at the sexism and discrimination the team had to fight against for the right to play the game. There was a lengthy battle to force the FAs of England and Scotland to overturn what was effectively a ban on women playing that had stood since 1921.
It looks at the wider impact and how the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 glory and the future of the Scotland team – who only narrowly failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup – would not have occurred without the pioneering work of the women of 1972.
The five-part series is hosted by Anita Asante, who won the Champions League with Arsenal and was capped 71 times by England. She hears the memories of the women of 1972 and speaks to present day stars to hear how they think that match helped shape the women’s game.
“The women of 50 years ago were the pioneers of our game,” says Anita. “They were so honest, so determined and they only had one thing in sight and that was to play football by any means possible.”
Guests include two from the women’s game who were on the side lines in Greenock that day in 1972 – Elsie Cook and Patricia Gregory.
Elsie became the first secretary of the Scottish Women’s Football Association and later went on to manage the team. “I was a football suffragette,” she says. “The male attitude at the time was that the place for women was at the sink and not on the pitch.
“Patricia was a founding member of the Women’s Football Association in England. She helped set up the WFA after being part of the crowd that lined the street as Tottenham paraded the trophy following their 1967 FA Cup triumph.
“At that moment she realised she’d never seen women play, so she decided to do something about it. “The attitude of a lot of the parents at the time was that they were just not interested [in their girls playing]. They didn’t want to know.”
Players like Wendy Owen and her England teammate Jeannie Allott also feature. Jeannie remembers: “I always hitch-hiked from Crewe to London [for training]. There was no money. I had no choice.”
Other guests include current England and Manchester City defender Esme Morgan, former England and Manchester United goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain and Calum Best, son of football legend George, who recently took over as chairman of Dorking Wanderers FC Ladies.
Calum says: “This chairman role allows me to express my passions, my joys, my love for football, the camaraderie that comes with it, the growth aspect of an underdog story which I’ve lived my whole life so I’m grateful for it.”
Chris Burns, Controller of Local Audio Commissioning at the BBC said: “This is a spine-tingling look at the fight for a rightful place for the women’s game.
“Sport is so important to all local communities, and this looks at the heart, talent and determination nurtured in back gardens and on football pitches across of England to get to where we are today.”
My Moment In History: Kicking Off The Women’s Game is available on BBC Sounds now.
