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Hello, @DrAlexJack1 again. Today for #FWWandPopCulture I'm going to look at the story of this photo of the Portsmouth Ladies FC, what it says about #womensfootball-then and now - and how the NFM's 50:50 pledge has shaped my research
When researching my book on Home Front football I faced an interesting challenge. For once, the women's game was better known than the men's, as this IWM article shows.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/9-facts-about-football-in-the-first-world-war#:~:text=During%20the%20First%20World%20War,women%20worked%20in%20munitions%20factories.&text=Sport%2C%20especially%20football%2C%20was%20encouraged,their%20matches%20drew%20large%20crowds.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/9-facts-about-football-in-the-first-world-war#:~:text=During%20the%20First%20World%20War,women%20worked%20in%20munitions%20factories.&text=Sport%2C%20especially%20football%2C%20was%20encouraged,their%20matches%20drew%20large%20crowds.
Central here is the story of Dick, Kerr Ladies FC. Thanks to @GailNewsham and @JeanMWilliams, they rightly hold a hugely important place in the history of #womensfootball
https://www.womeninfootball.co.uk/news/2017/05/18/dick,-kerr-ladies-first-ever-blue-plaque-dedicated-to-womens-football-team/
https://www.womeninfootball.co.uk/news/2017/05/18/dick,-kerr-ladies-first-ever-blue-plaque-dedicated-to-womens-football-team/
At first, I honestly felt I couldn’t add more. This changed in 2018 when @Belindascarlett and @JeanMWilliams explored a major new #womensfootball collection and hosted an international conference - this was a revelation to me
It made me go back in my own time to the photo of the Portsmouth Ladies FC and their opponents, the men of Cowes FC. It was displayed in our 2014 #FWW exhibition but then we didn’t know much about it.
When I looked again, I found images in our new collection and reports/images in digitised newspapers @BNArchive – pure gold! @JeanMWilliams asked me to do an academic article and work gave me some time to write it up https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17460263.2019.1677264
A key discovery was a large body of photos, many taken by Stephen Cribb, later a director at @Pompey +photographer for @portsmouthnews and freelancer for Daily Mirror, Daily Mail @PompeyHistory have an amazing collection like this one of keeper Elsie Courtney
They reveal a lot about gender. Over 50% of their games were against men after they ran out of female opponents. Men were given physical handicaps, like tied hands. These images reinforced gender stereotypes in the press – like much media coverage since.
But some images did challenge stereotypes. The players were praised for their bravery, especially the keepers. Alexandria Vasse “scorned the idea of danger and rushed fearlessly into the fray.” From Dunkirk, she was perhaps the first French female player in England
Informal photos also captured the everyday camaraderie of the players. This photo reminds me of the kinds of photos seen in modern projects aimed at challenging media stereotypes https://www.goal-click.com/2019-womens-world-cup
They also offer tantalising glimpses of the wider lives of the players – this amazing @PompeyHistory photo shows a player with possibly their child. Some married women played and this hints at the challenges of playing and parenting
So, I hope I've shown how major projects and pledges can have an important impact. Beyond the Portsmouth Ladies, it’s got me into looking at more teams - more of that tomorrow! Today, I wondered whether anyone else has moved in a similar direction?
