Valence House Museum International Women’s Day Football History Event

19/03/2025  -  4.03

Alex Alexandrou

To support the current exhibition entitled – The Sterling Ladies FC to The Lionesses: The Legacy of the Dagenham Invincibles of World War One, hosted by the Valence House Museum that runs from the 15th February to the 29th March, an event was organised at the Museum to celebrate International Women’s Day, that included an additional mini-exhibition curated by Steve Bolton within the room the event was being held in. The event was sponsored and supported by the Army FA, British Society of Sports History, Essex County FA and the Western Front Association. 

It began with a viewing of the film – Granny based on the life of one of the greatest female footballers of the early the first half of the 20th Century – Lizzy Ashcroft that was followed by a talk by her grandson and Women’s Football Historian, Steve Bolton, who described how and why the film came to be made, highlighting that his grandmother kept her fabulous footballing achievements to herself and not talking about them even with her own family. Steve also gave the audience a rare opportunity to view two postcards from 1918, each bearing the first ever team photos of England and Scotland Women’s representative teams respectively, prior to a charity fundraising match they played in Glasgow at Celtic Park. The audience was privileged to view these postcards, as Steve is generously donating them to the Scottish Football Museum, partly in memory of his late brother.

An interesting aspect of this part of the event was that a member of the audience spoke about a family connection with the Sterling factory. This was followed by a raffle with a signed copy of Kelcey Ervick’s pioneering book - The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women's Lives, as the prize, that was duly won by a lucky member of the audience.

This was followed by a panel event hosted by myself on behalf of the Football and War Network and comprising of Steve Bolton, Milly Morgan from the Essex County FA, who is a Football Development Officer with specific responsibility for Equality, Inclusion and the Disability Pathway, who is helping to make a major contribution to the development of Girls and Women’s competitive and recreational football within the county; and Captain Krissy Wright, an Army Women’s footballing legend, who has made a significant contribution both on and off the field in relation to the development of Women’s Football within the Army for the past 25 years.

The Panel Team - Milly Morgan, Steve Bolton and Krissy Wright. Source: Author's Collection

Milly and Krissy talked about how they both got into playing football at a young age and it has since developed into a lifelong passion for them from many different perspectives. Both of them highlighted that would not have envisaged when they first got involved, how pivotal football has been and become in their lives from a playing, coaching, managing and working perspective within the game and as football supporters. Milly being an ardent Lincoln City fan and Krissy a diehard Liverpool fan, with the antecedents of their support being geographically linked with the two teams as well as family team loyalties.

Milly spoke about how injury curtailed her playing career but rather than falling out of love with the game it spurred her on to go in different directions, which include her role at the Essex FA a s well as currently coaching a team. An interesting aspect of Milly’s immediate post-playing footballing activities was the initiative she set up, whilst she was at university, which gave international female students the opportunity to play recreational football, which they had not had the opportunity to do so before. This broke down cultural and other barriers and empowered this group of students.

Whilst Milly and Krissy played football during their primary years in different contexts, they had different experiences when they got to secondary school age. Milly found that her school did not offer football for girls and so she had to get her football playing fix outside of school. Whilst Krissy, because her father was serving in the military and he was posted to Germany with the family following, enabled Krissy to have a very positive experience, as she was given the opportunity to play competitive football, at both junior and senior level and even being paid for it, as Women’s football in Germany at that time, was so far more advanced then it was back in the UK.

An interesting generational dichotomy between Milly and Krissy was their experiences in relation to barriers they faced. Krissy highlighted how in her younger days she was not able to play in a girls’ team when she was living in the UK, as in effect this option was not available to her. Whilst Milly, did not face that issue and highlighted that her experiences were far more positive in terms of not facing the barriers that Krissy’s generation experienced and she had plenty of opportunities to play in girls’ teams.

An interesting discussion ensued between the audience and the panel in relation as to how girls from a young age should be assertive within football environments, be it at training, matches or as supporters, so they have positive experiences of engaging with football that start early and are maintained and enhanced into adulthood. In part, as Milly advised these should be based on coaches, parents and other stakeholders not being afraid to have challenging, frank and honest discussions on footballing matters that impact on young girls and their involvement in football. One of the audience made an interesting observation that at the school she works at, boys and girls play football together during break times, which is a generational shift.

Krissy spoke about joining the Army, her career and deployments around the world, explaining how she had progressed to becoming an officer and the opportunities the Army offered her and does offer women. Krissy went on to talk in her inimitable and modest way about her distinguished Army football career. It was clear to all present that she has amassed many memories and had wonderful experiences playing Inter-Service, Corps and UK Armed Forces representative football, as well as going on tours that have sought to build bridges from an international perspective. Particularly in 2023, when the Women’s Army FA representative squad went on a Defence Engagement initiative tour to the Western Balkans, encompassing Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia, visiting numerous community projects and playing their military counterparts as well as civilian teams.

Krissy was keen to highlight how much Women’s football has developed in the Army since 1990, when the restriction against women playing football within the Armed Forces was lifted. Krissy explained how it took time for Women’s football to develop at Corps and Representative level. That it has not all been plain sailing and that parity between female and male players has taken time to be established. Krissy announced this will be her last season playing representative football for the Army but will continue being a player-manager for the AGC Corps team, as well as outlining her ambition to help create an Army Women’s Masters team, for those, who shall we say, have reached a certain vintage and wish to carry on playing some form of competitive football.

On hearing that Krissy wanted to continue playing, Steve described his experiences of returning to playing through walking football, with a mix of female and male colleagues and what a positive experience it is from a football, fitness, mental health, wellbeing and social interaction perspective. 

Milly highlighted some of the Girls’ and Women’s football initiatives that she has helped to develop and expand in her role at the Essex County FA. These include helping to introduce girls to football in a friendly, non-competitive manner; developing competitive and recreational football pathways; women’s recreational and walking football activities and sessions; as well as enabling women from under-represented cultural and religious backgrounds, the opportunity to engage in footballing activities in a safe and welcoming environment.

The event was an enriching and positive experience for the audience members and the panel. All agreed that Girls’ and Women’s football has made significant advancements but there were still barriers and obstacles to overcome, as well as ensuring parity with Boys and Men’s football continues to be developed, enforced and maintained. A pertinent point, taking into account the recent pitch issues at the 2025 Women’s League Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester City and the Women’s Champions League match between Real Madrid and Arsenal.

Biography

Alex Alexandrou is Co-Founder and Chair of the Football and War Network