Women's Football 1921 old photograph - Cambridge family
Women's Football 1921 old photograph - Cambridge family member
Women Footballers, c. 1921
This postcard photograph shows three women footballers posing in striped shirts, shorts and long socks, one holding a football. A pencilled note on the reverse simply reads "Dot" and the date "May 1921", suggesting that one of the players may have been named Dorothy ("Dot"), although it is not known which of the three women is being referred to.
The photograph forms part of a collection of postcards and family papers associated with the Jolly family of the Mill Road area of Cambridge, later preserved amongst the papers of local historian Peter Filby. It is therefore possible that one of the women pictured was a member of the Jolly family, a friend, or someone connected to the wider Mill Road community, although no firm identification has yet been made.
The date is particularly significant. Women's football enjoyed enormous popularity during and immediately after the First World War, with many women's teams attracting large crowds across Britain. In December 1921, however, the Football Association banned women's matches from being played on affiliated grounds, a decision which severely restricted the development of the women's game for decades. This photograph therefore captures a moment from the final months of that first great era of women's football.
The fact that the women chose to be photographed in their football kit suggests that their involvement in the game was a source of pride at a time when women's football was attracting growing public interest across the country.
If you recognise any of the players, know of a local women's football team active in Cambridge around 1921, or perhaps you know which team this kit was from, (which may be elsewhere in the country), please use the comments form below to share your thoughts.
Michelle Bullivant Archives (Filby Collection)
