by Clara Hickman (15/11/23)
“I was asked to referee the first women’s football match at Crouch End. I declined, but I went to see the match and came to the conclusion that the game was not suitable for them.”
Frederick Wall, FA secretary from 1895 to 1934 used this explanation as the reason why he banned women’s football on 5th December 1921 when briefly addressing it in his autobiography.
Just over a century later, Leah Williamson led England to victory in Euro 2022 in front of a crowd of over 87,000 supporters. In 2023 they were runners up of the World Cup led by Mille Bright.
These positive changes did not just happen automatically. Some amazing figures in history fought not only for their dream of playing football but for other women of the future to do so with less of the hardships.
The Wonder Team and the Forgotten Footballers is Leah Williamson’s debut children’s fiction novel, co-written with her cousin Jordan Glover. It is a time-twisting adventure story, also very thought-provoking as the reader is taken back to 1921 when women’s football had just been banned. Williamson and Glover ensure the forgotten footballers’ stories are not lost in history and bring some well-deserved recognition to them.
The novel starts in the modern day introducing Leah as the protagonist alongside her two best friends, George and Mimi. They are having a football training session at school before a game against their toughest rivals Westfield High. Leah is hoping to get chosen for the team but is having a crisis of confidence due to her poor performance in a previous match.
The antagonist, school bully William Riley wastes no time in belittling her. When asked to take penalties as shooting practice, Leah panics, and “all the reasons why she couldn’t take this penalty spiraled through her mind.” William notices her discomfort and does his best to humiliate her.
The novel is already extremely relatable. Most readers will feel a familiarity with a similar situation. We already begin to feel invested in the characters and are rooting for Leah to prove William wrong about herself.
She continues to worry about William’s taunts but then something distracts her and her friends. After a storm, they explore a fallen oak tree and discover a small silver box. Nestled inside is a pocket watch with a riddle written on its face.
Leah, George, and Mimi are determined to solve the riddle and end up being transported back to 1921. Williamson and Glover weave some magical realism into the story which proves to be a great tool in making us feel as though we are travelling back in time with the characters. The protagonists find themselves in the era when women’s football has been banned and the Crickle End champions are no longer allowed to play the final of the championship cup. The time travel element undoubtedly draws the younger audience in.
We are introduced to a character who did not always want to be a footballer. Instead, she just experimented with what she enjoyed doing in her childhood. The message is subtle but very reassuring to younger people who are likely to feel the pressure of having to decide what to do when they grow up. However, the book has some important messages for readers of all ages too.
Empathy is evoked as we wonder what life could have been like if we were born in 1921. It is impossible to truly experience it but the magical realism lets the narrative go back in time allowing us some insight into the realities that aspiring female footballers experienced. The crossover between the modern day and over a hundred years ago brings the forgotten footballers’ crucial backstories to life. The juxtaposition of these two times highlights the limited possibilities for the future that the forgotten footballers had compared to the very positive outlook that modern-day women’s footballers have.
The Crickle End Champions are a fictional football team but are inspired by the Dick, Kerr Ladies from Preston, who formed their team in 1917 during the First World War. They were the reason that women’s football rocketed in popularity, attracting record-breaking crowds before the ban was introduced four years later. Could the Crickle End Champions also be Williamson and Glover paying homage to one of the first-ever official women’s football teams formed in 1895, The British Ladies FC, who played their first public match at Crouch End in London?
Williamson and Glover manage a very accurate portrayal of 1921 without painting all men as being against women.
There were some very good men who were appalled at the ban of women’s football and were not afraid to show their outrage. Former football club secretary from Liverpool, Major Cecil Kent, was one male voice who supported women’s football. He voiced a lot of the publics thoughts through a statement he read out to the FA’s Consultative Committee according to a report in The Online Magazine for Sport and Leisure History. “The thing I hear from the man in the street is “why have the FA got the knife into girls’ football?” What have the girls done except raise large sums for charity and play the game?”
The Dick, Kerr Ladies played games for charity and raised an estimated £10 million in todays money for children, soldiers and hospitals which was reported by the History of Women’s Football Association. They also attracted over 50,000 supporters to a game at Goodison Park. All women’s football was doing was going from strength to strength.
The Wonder Team and the Forgotten Footballers is about characters in difficult and unpredictable situations trying to find their way forward. These unimaginable situations were real for fifty years until the ban was lifted. The book has the vital encouragement of challenging unfair societal opinions should they arise. The message of not giving up and not changing who you are is prominent; nobody should have to give up what they love doing just because somebody else wants them to.
When Leah and her friends are trying to help the Crickle End Champions find a way to play the final, Leah gets a brainwave that sparks determination. “The officials have banned you from playing in an official stadium, but they don’t own all the parks and fields in Crickle End, do they? Couldn’t you just relocate the match?”
The plot runs parallel to the Dick, Kerr Ladies and their resilience when they continued to play football in parks. They challenged societal norms by refusing to conform to the government’s idea of what was appropriate for them thus making the journey of the keen modern-day female footballer a lot easier.
When Leah and her friends eventually find their way back home, Leah has to focus on the game against Westfield High.
After witnessing firsthand what her predecessors went through, she refuses to be fazed when William tries again to knock her confidence.
The Wonder Team and the Forgotten Footballers show there will always be certain people in your life who will do their best to discourage you from getting to a place where you would be happy whether that be playing football professionally or playing it for fun. The book’s powerful message implies that if you allow someone to prevent you from doing that, it would be letting all the hard work done by the forgotten footballers be in vain. All their hard work for women these days to play or just enjoy the game is a pedestal they have left us to stand on and continue to build upon.
The second book in the time travelling series by Williamson and Glover The Wonder Team and The Pharaoh’s Fortune is expected to be released in April 2024.
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