The road to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia has been littered with a century of fierce opposition, sexism and ignorance, reports Correspondent at Large Louise Evans.
Just a few months after Edith Cowan became the first woman elected to an Australian parliament, about 50 young female pioneers “desirous of playing the football game” rallied together at the Sydney Sports Ground to officially kick start women’s soccer.
On that auspicious winter’s day in 1921, the inaugural Sydney Ladies Soccer Association was born.
A management committee was created, teams were named and practice sessions organised at that historic July 2 meeting which launched women’s football into post World War I Australia.
The formation of the Queensland Ladies Soccer Football Association quickly followed. Within a week an inaugural meeting was held on July 8, 1921 attended by a reported 100 female enthusiasts.
Three initial women’s teams were formed – Latrobe, Brisbane Ladies and Brisbane City Ladies – who began training once a week.
Come the spring of 1921 the first women’s match debuted at the Brisbane Cricket Ground where the North Brisbane Reds beat the South Brisbane Blues 2-0 to the delight of a reported 10,000 spectators on the afternoon of September 24.
The Queensland Times reported on “the skilful treatment of the game by these young ladies” and commented that “the girls showed remarkable stamina” and “evidence of keen training”.
More matches followed and the women’s game flourished, despite pockets of fierce male resistance, claims of gross indecency and alleged reproductive harm, plus warnings that society’s moral fabric could be destroyed.
The absence of skirts and stockings worn by players who sported shorts and socks instead was also considered shocking for some critics.
An English Football Association (EFA) ban on women playing at EFA-affiliated pitches on December 5, 1921 proved a major setback, but the “weaker sex” in Australia wanted to play and continued to foster female participation in the sport for both recreation and competition.
The women also proved quite efficient at organising teams and games and enlisting the support of family and community.
By the end of the Roaring Twenties women’s football was being played across Australian city and country regions.
In Lithgow, three “factory” women’s teams – Arnotts, Zig-Zags and State Mine – were reportedly playing “fiery football” in front of large crowds on Sunday afternoons during the winter of 1929.
The reports said the women played with the vim and vigour of men and fought like them too.
By November of the same year the first NSW State women’s title was watched by a reported crowd of 7,000, with the Speers Point team from Newcastle beating Weston 1-0 in a night match played under newly-installed lights at the Sydney Sports Ground.
The fragmented tale of the women’s game in Australia, and the history of the men’s game, have been diligently detailed in a new book Australian Soccer From the Beginning by former athlete, renowned Australian Associated Press journalist, sports administrator, announcer and official, and soccer doyen Ted Simmons, OAM.
Its publication is timed to coincide with the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Simmons said he was inspired to write an accessible book because of “almost a complete lack of knowledge of Australian football history”.
It took him over 20 years to compile his research and one of the many disappointments was “the unbelievable bias against women in their efforts to play”.
“Over the decades, women in soccer have had to resist and overcome strong opposition from men who were established in administration and who believed women should not be engaged in active sport, particularly football,” Simmons said in his book.
“The antagonism and lack of coverage encountered only strengthened my determination to complete the book to fill this void in Australian sporting history.”
The result of Simmon’s passion and determination is a rich 336-page tome which explores the birth and growth of the women’s and men’s games in Australia, both nationally and in each of the states and territories.
Australian Soccer From The Beginning is illustrated with a vast array of vintage images and memorabilia which bring to life the origins of the game and its often tortured history.
Julie Dolan AM, a women’s soccer pioneer, 18-cap International, former national team captain and Football Australia Hall of Famer, said in the book that the growth of women’s football was continuously stunted by old world bias and ignorance.
“The journey became a stop-start one hampered by the domination and opposition of men in executive positions and the public perception that women should not play sports—especially not ‘men’s sports’,” Dolan said.
Pip Butler from PB Publishing said she was motivated to take-on Simmons’ manuscript because “it’s a landmark publication in Australian sport”.
“I have never seen anything like this level of detail before, particularly in the research Ted did on the development of women’s soccer in every state and territory,” Butler said.
“While there are many books on men’s soccer, and books that cover some aspects of the women’s game, there is nothing like the all-encompassing approach Ted applied to his manuscript.
“It’s been over three years since the manuscript first landed on my desk and in that time there have been many additions as Ted continued to dig up and add new material.
“And of course Sam Kerr’s amazing performance for Chelsea in the English Super League could not be left out.
“It’s an outstanding body of work.”
Australian Soccer From The Beginning by Ted Simmons OAM, is published by PB Publishing and will be launched on Friday July 28. RRP $45 + PP.
Louise Evans is an award-winning journalist who has worked around Australia and the world as a reporter, foreign correspondent, editor and media executive for media platforms including The Sydney Morning Herald (eight years), The Australian (11 years) and Australian Associated Press (six years in London, Beijing and Sydney).
A women sports’ pioneer, Louise was the first female sports journalist employed by The Sydney Morning Herald and the first female sports editor at The Australian. Louise went on to work at six Olympic Games, six Commonwealth Games and numerous world sporting championships and grand slam tennis events.
Louise is the Founding Editor of AAP FactCheck, the Creator of #WISPAA – Women in Sport Photo Action Awards and national touring Exhibition and the author and producer of the Passage to Pusan book, documentary and exhibition.
In 2019 she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) Queen’s Honour for services to the media and sport and named an Australian Financial Review Top 100 Woman of Influence for services to the arts, culture and sport.
In 2020 she won a NSW Volunteer of the Year Award plus the NSW Government Community Service Award for her women-in-sport advocacy work.
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