‘The game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged’: a comparative analysis of the 1921 English Football Association ban on women's football in Britain and Ireland

Fiona Skillen,Helena Byrne,John Carrier,Gary James

doi:10.1080/17460263.2021.2025415

Fiona Skillen, Helena Byrne + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/17460263.2021.2025415

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Abstract

ABSTRACT On 5 December 1921, the English Football Association (FA) implemented a ban on affiliated clubs allowing women’s teams to use their grounds and the use of FA registered referees, thus undermining and restricting the women’s game. The FA claimed that football was unsuitable for women and that it should not be encouraged. 2021 also marks 50 years since UEFA directed its members to recognise women’s football. The FA ban has been well documented; however, the English experience of the ban implemented by the FA has been conflated with the experience of the rest of Britain and Ireland. This article examines the impact, the FA ban had on women’s football in these regions. It explores if a similar ban was introduced by the four other British and Irish governing bodies (Scottish Football Association, Welsh Football Association, Irish Football Association and the Football Association of Ireland formerly the Football Association of the Irish Free State) and what impact this had on women’s football there.

Highlights

This article examines the impact, the FA ban had on women’s football in these regions. It explores if a similar ban was introduced by the four other British and Irish governing bodies (Scottish Football Association, Welsh Football Association, Irish Football Association and the Football Association of Ireland formerly the Football Association of the Irish Free State) and what impact this had on women’s football there
Northern Ireland and the 1921 English Football Association ban. It is unclear if the English FA ban was ever discussed by the Irish Football Association (IFA) as there is no reference to it in the archives
The SFA and Football Association Wales (FAW) did implement bans at later dates it was on their own terms rather than blindly following the FA

Summary

Introduction

This article will examine what long-term impact, if any, the FA ban had on the progress of women’s football in each nation. We examine each country in turn, exploring similar themes in each section in order that comparisons can be drawn

Literature review

Conclusion

Early research includes

Notes on contributors