Today, women’s football is a real sports phenomenon, followed by millions of fans worldwide, but it hasn’t always been the case. It all started on the 7th of May 1881, when the first recorded ladies’ football match took place in Edinburgh between England and Scotland. Come the 1890s, women’s club football gathered momentum. Local women’s football clubs were being formed (some by women factory workers) with the aim of competing in matches and competitions.
In 1895, Alfred Hewitt Smith and Nettie J Honeyball formed the BLFC (British Ladies Football Club). The president of the club was Lady Florence Dixie, a celebrated Scottish author, who ruled that lady players should wear practical clothing, including shin pads, football boots, and bloomers.
The Banning of Women’s Football and its Subsequent Gradual global Acceptance
During WW1, with many of the menfolk called up for National Service, women were increasingly being employed in factories, many of which were dark and dingy. Sport was a way of offering women workers the opportunity to improve the standards of their health and wellbeing, to boost morale and increase levels of productivity.
Unlike modern ladies, they didn’t have the opportunity to go online and check websites telling them about all possible ways of entertainment. Today, players can visit expert reviewers of, say, legal Polish casinos and choose the place to spend time with a favorite game. Back then, workers, whether men or women, chose among what was offered by employers.
Football was a popular choice, and in 1917, munitions factories created the Munitionettes’ Cup, the final of which saw Blyth Spartans Munitionettes defeat Bolckow, Vaughan & Co 5-0. On December 5th, 1921, the FA banned women’s football.
They issued a statement saying that the game of football was unsuitable for women and ought not be encouraged. Despite the ban, women were determined to carry on playing, and on the 10th of December 1921, something like 30 teams from all over England gathered in Liverpool to form the ELFA (English Ladies Football Association). Their aim was to popularise women’s football among girls and raise money for charity.
In 1922, the one and only ever ELFA Challenge Cup tournament took place. It was won by Stoke Ladies, who beat Doncaster and Bentley Ladies 3-1 in the final. The ban remained in place for 51 years.
The Dick, Kerr & Co Ladies Football Team
The most famous and successful of all of the factory-founded ladies’ football teams was the Dick, Kerr & Co team. They played over 800 matches from 1917 to 1965, winning an extraordinary 746 of them. While the WW1 conflict raged, the team toured the country, putting on games for charity, whose proceeds were targeted to help injured servicemen.
Receiving 10 Shillings per game (50p in modern money terms), they could be considered to have been the first ever professional women’s football team. Their leading goal scorer was Lily Parr, who is thought to have scored approximately 900 goals in the 30-year career. Eat your hearts out, Alan Shearer and Harry Kane.
Alternative Sports Ladies Later Chose
Just as many male football players enjoy the odd flutter, so too do their female counterparts, but although perhaps being frowned upon by some people at certain times, there has never been a general ban.
In fact, there are several very famous women iGaming players, including Alice Ivers, Lottie Deno, Eleanor Dumont, and Vanessa Selbst. Some of them chose cards or bets as an alternative sports option, where they could demonstrate their strongest qualities like concentration, perseverance, and logic.
Once only available in clubs to a privileged few, the Internet has made gams an easily available, fun pastime for anybody, anywhere. Statistics from the USA indicate that approximately one-third of bettors are women, and their average bet size is $51.1, compared to men’s average of $48.6.
Betting on Women’s Football Boosted by the Success of the Lionesses
Nowadays, with tournaments like the Women’s UEFA Nations League, UEFA Women’s Euro, and FIFA Women’s World Cup, thanks in part to the success of England’s Lionesses, betting on Women’s Football has never been more popular; in fact, it is redefining sports betting. A combination of improved standards of play and the unpredictability of match results creates an exciting atmosphere.
England’s Lionesses are a glowing example of what has been achieved in recent years. In terms of the FIFA World Cup, they’re always in the running.
- 2015 – Finished in Third Place.
- 2019 – Finished in Fourth Place.
- 2023 – Runners Up
- 2027 – We wait with bated breath.
The odds at the time of writing on the Lionesses winning the 2027 FIFA World Cup are 50 to 1. Given that Sarina Wiegman’s team are back-to-back winners of the UEFA Women’s Championship, beating Germany 2-1 in 2022 and Spain 3-1 on penalties in 2025, it could well be considered a worthwhile bet.
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