Women's Football

The first women’s football matches took place between England and Scotland in 1881 and the first international match between an English team and France was played in 1920.

However, in 1921 the Football Association banned women from playing on Football League grounds saying; “…the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.” This ban was not lifted until 1971.

During the early part of the 20th century there were a number of women’s football teams in Surrey, many were company teams.

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Woolworths, Staines, Ladies Football Club, 1933.
Courtesy of Egham Musuem (P2616)

In 1934 the Woolworths’ of Staines Ladies team were said to have shown some “sparkling form”. However, the previous year they had faced a team from Marks and Spencer and lost 5 – 0. The match was played on the Staines Linoleum Football Ground. The Staines Linoleum Company, started in1862, had a sports ground in Mill Mead, Staines.

The East India Company originally established gunpowder mills at Chilworth in 1625, on land leased from the lord of the manor of Chilworth. The Chilworth Gunpowder Company Ltd was founded there in 1885. During the First World War the Company fielded a women’s football team.

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The Chilworth Gunpowder Company Ltd women's football team