In 1917 a new sport was born in the munitions factories of Britain. Within two years women's football had become one of the most popular spectator sports, and the most famous team was the Dick, Kerr's Ladies, of Preston, Lancashire. The factory girls became media stars, touring France, and then America, where they found themselves teamed against men. Abruptly, in 1921, the Football Association banned the sport, fearing that it detracted from the popularity of the men's game: the prohibition lasted for half a century. Dick, Kerr's Ladies survived, but its glory years were 1917-22, when its star players were Alice Woods, a calm but competitive world-class sprinter and miner's daughter from the politically active mining community of St Helens, and Lily Parr, who was taller than most men by the time she was 14. Barbara Jacobs, who shares their birthplace, St Helens, tells the story of the two women and the team, and what lay behind the runaway success of their sport - the closure of men's League games in the Great War, the charitable nature of the game, the need to provide sporting activities for munitionettes. She reveals too, the political and social issues that led to its shameful and carefully orchestrated demise. Intertwining the history of the tough Lancashire women with a vibrant commentary on their daily lives, Jacobs introduces us to the Lancastrian love of a 'reet good do', Blackpool and brass bands, pickled eggs and tripe and onions, and much more in a charming yet clear-eyed book that captures the true spirit of dissidence, hope, and laughter.
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"From the opening chapter Jacob's wonderful book evokes the smells, sounds and harshness of urban life in Northern England" -- Western Daily Press (Wiltshire Edition)
About the Author
Barbara Jacobs is a novelist, freelance journalist, advice columnist and broadcaster. Her novel for young adults, Stick, won two major UK awards and her most recent book Loving Mr Spock (2003) was a personal account of her partner's battle with Asperger's Syndrome. She writes a weekly advice column for several London newspapers and has her own radio phone-in on Century 106. She lives in Leicester.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the book - the player's life stories - what life was like for these players - they seem to have had it good, playing on first class pitches, referees no prob, money no prob and to receive a payment for playing - actually much better than we did in the 60's - with a total ban on women playing football (SFA) we had a real struggle - with pitches - with referees - with travel - finding opposition and - with finance - with the male (and female) attitudes of the day, new players were difficult to find. All we wanted to do was play a game of football. It took a lot of effort and it took a long long time for acceptance and recognition...and at last the dream has come true Women's World Cup, Olympics, professional leagues, high standard of coaching for all ages etc etc Well done lassies!!!
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Tony Dawson
Format:Paperback
My review might be tainted by the fact that my family is one of the major themes of the book. However, I write as an academic and a football fan. Undoubtedly the book carefully links social history and a major era in women's football. The author should be commended for her thoughtful and innovative style - I was particularly impressed by the marriage of carefully researched social history and narrative based on proud Lancashire dialect. I am amazed at the limited publicity the book has had in my home town. It just occurs to me that the book would provide a much more substantial source for a film than women's baseball in Second World War USA.
Good work Barbara - keep it up!
Good work Barbara - keep it up!
3 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Lenny Banter
Format:Paperback
I could not wait to read this book only having ever read about the women's football game that sprang up during World War One as a minor footnote in soccer's history. Therefore, it was nice to see that an author had taken the time to do a bit of research into it. However, when I put it down, I was slightly underwelmed. The book is quite short and I put this down to the fact that the sources of information for this work would have been quite slim. That is not the case. What it does do, it does quite well. Using what little official reporting from the press at the time and the memories of the players themselves as well as their relatives, you do get a vivid picture of life in the North of England during the late 1910's and early 1920's. What you do not get are any statistics. After reading the text, I would have loved to have a record of their matches. A statistical record of the players themselves would have been of use as well. Who played in them, the scores, venue etc without having to trawl through the text. I was also a bit fed up with the continual use of lyrics through out the piece. I thought this was meant to be a book on football, not one on poetry. It also finishes very abruptly and the history of the team after the mid 1920's boils down to little more than one sentence. It want to know so much more, but for me, this book failed to delivering. I think that social historians will find little to fault here, but for people like myself who are more interested in sports history, they will feel a little let down.
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