By Ella McShane (21/05/2025)
Above: The Barcelona Femini play at Camp Nou in 1979. Photo: FC Barcelona.
The stage is set for two trailblazers of the women’s game to meet in Lisbon this week, as FC Barcelona and Arsenal face off in the 2024/25 UEFA Women’s Champions League Final.
In the third feature of our countdown to the final, Impetus Football’s Ella McShane takes a look at the unsung heroes behind two of the biggest clubs in the women’s game.
The 1987 Arsenal Ladies
In 1987, Aylesbury women’s manager Bob Sayell stepped down to begin a well-earned retirement in Menorca. At the time, Arsenal were looking to replicate fellow London side Millwall Lionesses, by having an affiliated first women’s team. Starry-eyed Arsenal community manager Vic Akers assumed control of the manger-less Aylesbury and ‘Arsenal Ladies’ was born.
The 1980s were a decade characterised by the advanced liberation of women and development of their legal rights. Whilst the sex discrimination act of 1975 made football more accessible to women, deep rooted social prejudice continued to hinder women’s involvement in the sport – from grassroots to the professional level.
As for the Arsenal squad itself, a large majority of the trailblazers involved are unprofiled. With comprehensive and reliable documentation of the women’s game in England only available from the early 2000s onwards.
Thanks to the release of the film Copa 71, Gill Sayell—Player of the Season in 1987—has emerged as one of the most prominent figures from that squad. A talented winger, at the age of fourteen Sayell was part of Harry Batt’s trailblazing British Independents who competed in the unofficial 1971 Women’s World Cup in Mexico. She remains one of the true unsung pioneers of the women’s game.
FC Barcelona Femení – Trailblazers under a regime
The genesis of what we now know as Barcelona Femení came almost three decades prior to the Arsenal Ladies.
Despite an official ban on women’s football, the game gained a niche popularity in Spain and Catalonia – particularly in Barcelona – in the 1960s. FC Barcelona fostered this aspect of the community by hosting exhibition games at Camp Nou, however not with continuity in mind.
In 1970, 18-year-old Immaculada Cabeceràn met with FC Barcelona president Agustí Montal to voice her own and women’s football’s potential. The president gave what was then perceived as a generous gesture: FC Barcelona’s backing if Cabeceràn could find enough players.
A call to action was posted in the local newspaper, and Cabeceràn formed the inaugural FC Barcelona Femení side (then known as ‘Seleccio Ciutat de Barcelona’ ‘City of Barcelona Selection’ in English.
The inaugural squad played their first match at Camp Nou on Christmas day 1970, drawing a crowd of 60,000 spectators. Pioneers of the women’s game were making their debuts; Captain Lolita Ortiz and goalkeeper-turned-coach Núria Llansà, and ex-player / manager Antoni Ramallets.
Although received perceptively well by the Barcelona public, it is important to note that the squad lived under the Francoist dictatorship, a political regime that saw women in Spain lose many of their rights. The focus on women’s rights saw the Seleccio Ciutat de Barcelona actively endure sexist abuse both on and off the pitch.
Despite the barriers they faced, the group continued to play matches that generated large crowds and interest. In 2002 this paid off as FC Barcelona Femení became an official part of FC Barcelona – bringing additional funding and resources to the team.
Both FC Barcelona and Arsenal’s early investment has given them the head start needed to claim the term ‘powerhouse’, but who will come out on top this weekend?
If you missed the previous articles in our countdown to the UWCL final, you can find them below:
- Vic Ackers and Arsenal’s trophy-ridden past: https://impetusfootball.org/2025/05/20/arsenal-women-trophy-hunters-across-time/
- The financial implications of the UWCL: https://impetusfootball.org/2025/05/19/its-good-to-share-rethinking-the-creation-and-distribution-of-revenue-in-the-womens-game/
The Champions league final between Arsenal and Barcelona will be played in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday May 24th at 17:00 UK time. It will be broadcast on TNT Sports in the UK and on DAZN elsewhere.
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