London Talks: Women's Football

Professor Jean Williams, author of The History of Women's Football and Legendary Lionesses reflects on the key moments in the history of women's football. Starting from the first recorded game in 1881 and the creation of the British Ladies Football Clubby Nettie Honeyball in 1894, Professor Williams talks through the popularity of the women's game.
It would be impossible to talk about the history of the women's game without exploring the dynamics that led in 1921 to a ban of 50 years, before bringing us up to date with the return of women's football in 1970, and the Lionesses capturing the heart of a nation culminating in glory at the 2022 European Championship.

Jean Williams is a British professor in sport history and author specialising in women's history; sport and literature. Though mainly known for her work on women's football, Williams has produced a range of material on the history of sports and the social contexts of events.

She is author of A Game For Rough Girls: A History of Women's Football in England (Routledge 2003) and A Beautiful Game: International Perspectives on Women's Football (Berg 2007) and a research monograph called A Contemporary History of Women’s Sport (Routledge Research, 2011).

The talk will last for 40 minutes, and be followed by an extensive audience Q+A.

Join us at the event and enjoy drinks from our bar, perfect for toasting to great conversations and new connections.

Host or Publisher London Metropolitan Archives