Preston North End FC, Lancashire: Ladies Football

Available for over a year

The story of the 1914 Christmas football match between British and German soldiers is one which has gone down into World War One folklore, but on Christmas Day 1917 there was another big match – this time at Preston North End’s Deepdale ground. Ten thousand spectators turned up to watch the women’s team – Dick, Kerr Ladies – play their first ever competitive match. Dick, Kerr’s went on to become an international sensation, touring the globe including France and the United States. The team was made up of wartime workers at the Preston company Dick, Kerr & Co Ltd. Sporting activity was seen as a vital way of improving the women’s welfare. Most munitions factories had their own ladies football team. At Christmas 1917; Dick, Kerr Ladies played a team from a neighbouring Preston factory. The match raised money for wounded soldiers at the nearby Moor Park Hospital. Dick, Kerr Ladies won 4-0. According to a newspaper match report: “Dick, Kerr's were not long in showing that they suffered less than their opponents from stage fright, and they had a better all-round idea of the game. Woman for woman they were also speedier.” Location: Preston North End FC Deepdale, Sir Tom Finney Way, Preston PR1 6RU Image: Dick, Kerr Ladies, courtesy of Gail J Newsham; author of ‘In a League of Their Own!’