The History of Women's Football

Professor Jean Williams is the leading academic author on women’s football in the world, having written books funded by FIFA, and UEFA as well as books based on the British, such as A Game For Rough Girls (2003). Jean has been a consultant to The FIFA Museum in Zurich, The National Football Museum, Manchester and the FA at St George’s Park and Wembley. An average, but enthusiastic football player, Jean was more likely to win her club’s ‘Most Improved Player’ than national distinction. Having reunited England players from official and unofficial England national teams, including several reunions at National Football Museum, Jean has access to many, diverse interviewees, memorabilia and images to tell this story. The eldest player she is currently in contact with, Alice Elliott, began playing for Manchester Corinthians in 1949, aged fourteen. Leah Caleb was only thirteen when she travelled to Mexico in 1971 to play in an unofficial Women’s World Cup. Mary Phillip became the first black woman to captain England in 2003. It is these, and other stories, that Jean believes will bring the book alive.