During the First World War, female factory workers started to form football teams to raise money for charity; the most famous one being Dick, Kerr Ladies. Women’s football quickly became very popular with match attendances often reaching five figures and remained popular after the war ended. Some matches were staged at Football League grounds, including Goodison Park.
Everton allowed women’s football teams to train at Goodison Park to prepare for their games:
It was resolved that all persons other than our own players, (and the lady football players) be precluded from using the ground and dressing rooms for any purpose whatever. That the lady footballers be informed that they must arrange that they withdraw from our premises before 4:30 p.m. and that whilst training or practising they must use the visitors dressing room and that no male will be permitted to accompany them.
Aintree Munitions Ladies v North Haymarket Ladies
In an Everton meeting on 30th January 1918, the club allowed Goodison Park to stage a women’s football match on Easter Monday morning (April 1st). A women’s team from munitions factories in Aintree and North Haymarket played against each other in front of over 7,000 spectators at Goodison Park to raise money for the Sportsmen’s Ambulance Fund. They played against each other the previous January at Prenton Park with Aintree winning 4-0. In a match report by the Liverpool Echo, both teams “entered the arena attired in short skirts, Aintree having red sleeves, and Haymarket dark green.”
Aintree: M. Lewis, E. Geddes, Bessie Burrows, E. Thomas, Belle Saunders, M. Creane, Daisy Clayton, J. Jones, May Williamson, L. Reece, Lily Molyneux
North Haymarket: A. Blacklock, Nellie Woods, Mabel Wilson, M. Harrison, Ivy Fulford, R. Rose, B. Way, C. Murray, Amy Bragg, May Sale, Kitty Molyneux
Aintree started the more dominant side but the first half ended goalless. The red-sleeved ladies eventually broke the deadlock in the second half through May Williamson. Despite Aintree’s dominance, Haymarket had a chance to equalise but “the ladies forgot to charge, but shoved, pulled and pushed each other until the goalkeeper cleared.” Lily Molyneux doubled Aintree’s lead and a goalkeeping error made it 3-0. Reece hit a shot which slipped through Blacklock’s hands and went into the goal. Lily Molyneux had a chance to double her tally and make it 4-0 from the penalty spot but Blacklock made amends for her earlier error and saved the penalty. Aintree did make it 4-0 with Reece scoring her second of the game. The match ended 4-0 to Aintree, repeating the scoreline of the Prenton Park meeting.
This is the first known record of a women’s football match being played at Goodison Park.
The Liverpool Echo praised the match and women’s footballers in general:
Ladies are good at promising, men are always agreed, but in among the war-growths that have occurred recently, nothing promises quite so richly as the lady footballer. Time was when they tried to play the winter sport and were laughed to scorn. Many fans must have gone to Goodison Park on Monday morning for a pantomimical affair, and they had their eyes opened. There were laughable incidents, of course, but some of the players showed such good form that the possibilities of ladies’ football had to be recognised.
The cardinal fault was pushing instead of charging; but this is quite a minor matter, and time will remedy it more emphatically than a referee can. Aintree’s left-winger and all the full backs showed a keen perception of the game and its requirements, and I doubt not that if the playing area had been reduced to the size that obtains when school teams meet, the ladies would have done far better. It is too much to expect the weaker sex to last 90 minutes’ football on the full scale of football’s measurements. Whatever else the ladies have done, they have, in linking up with football, found a channel for charity that has fared well, and promises to bring with it some football in the future.
Aintree Munitions Ladies v Rest of the League
Just over a month later (May 8th), Aintree returned to Goodison Park to play against a Rest of the League XI in front of just over 1,500 spectators. Although, there does not appear to be any report of the match or record of the scoreline.
Dick, Kerr Ladies v St Helens Ladies
On Boxing Day morning 1920 (December 27th), England’s most famous women’s football team at the time Dick, Kerr Ladies played against St Helens Ladies at Goodison Park in what became one of the most famous matches in women’s football history. The date of the match has often been mistaken. In 1920, Boxing Day was on December 27th, not December 26th, because the 26th was on a Sunday and Boxing Day traditionally had to be on a working day. Furthermore, Sunday football was forbidden in England until the 1970s.
Everton had allowed Dick, Kerr Ladies to play at Goodison Park in January 1919 and a match was requested to be played on February 5th the same year. Although, Everton said the date was not suitable. A date was eventually agreed and Dick, Kerr and St Helens played against each other at Goodison Park to raise funds for the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers.
Dick, Kerr: Annie Hastie, Alice Kell, Lily Parr, Alice Woods, Jessie Walmsley, Sally Hulme, Florrie Haslam, Jennie Harris, Alice Mills, Lily Lee, Daisy Clayton
St Helens: Edith Waine, M. Makin, F. Gee, E. Britch, M. Ransome, Swift, Davies, N. Johnson, Scott, E. Woods, F. Hayes
Florrie Redford was in Dick, Kerr’s original line-up but she unfortunately missed her train to Liverpool. Minnie Lyons was also in the original line-up but missed the game for unknown reasons. Alice Mills and Lily Lee took their places. St Helens had a couple of late replacements themselves – Swift and Davies replacing Gornall and Bayley.
The match was kicked off by Ella Retford, a well-known music hall comedian, singer and dancer in the early 20th century, at 11 o’clock in the morning. Dick, Kerr wore black and white jerseys and St Helens were wearing blue. Jennie Harris broke the deadlock and Dick, Kerr went into half-time with a one-goal lead. In the second half, Alice Kell moved from right back to centre forward and scored a hat-trick. No more goals were scored and the match ended 4-0 to Dick, Kerr. According to the Liverpool Daily Post, the scoreline could have been a lot worse for St Helens if it was not for Edith Waine.
The attendance of the match has commonly been reported to be at least 53,000 with over 10,000 people being turned away because the stadium was too full. The day after the game, the Liverpool Echo reported the match was attended by around 45,000 spectators. According to Everton’s gate receipt books, the official attendance was 46,480 – far more than the other match at Goodison Park later that day, Everton Reserves vs Southport (just over 5,000), and more than the estimated attendance for Liverpool vs Chelsea at Anfield the same day (around 35,000 according to the Liverpool Echo). The official attendance was a record for a women’s football match in England until the 2012 Summer Olympics and remained a record attendance for a women’s club football match in England for over a century until 49,094 fans attended the 2022 Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley.
Following the match, both teams’ managers were full of gratitude. The Liverpool Echo reported:
Yesterday, Mr Frankland, of Dick, Kerr’s and Mr Gordon, of St Helens ladies’ football sides, having asked me to accept their thanks for, they said, “being mainly responsible for the excellent attendance at the ladies’ game.” To thank: also the Everton club’s officers and staff – and the ladies. They agreed and asked me to say to you all, “A big, big thanks for breaking the record.”
Both teams were lauded for their performances. The Liverpool Daily Post said referee Stan Peers “had no trouble with the ladies, who were not argumentative and played a hefty, fair game, and played to the whistle with a readiness that might be copied by the menfolk,” and the Liverpool Echo said:
The ladies at Goodison Park gave us all much pleasure. We appreciated their skill, their stamina, their determination, and their manner of taking hard knocks without “turning a hair.” Sometimes the cap didn’t fit, and there was a hair turned; still one must say that they all played well and hard throughout. One lady on the right wing of St Helens loved to dribble; she lived for it. But she did not succeed in the manner little Jennie Harris did – what a splendid little player. And what full-backs Dick, Kerr have; they study their kicks, and are the back-bone of the side.
The Dick, Kerr-St Helens spectacle was the last women’s football match at Goodison Park before the FA banned women’s football being played on FA-affiliated grounds in 1921 – a ban which lasted until the 1970s. The next major women’s football match to take place at Goodison Park was on 5th April 1997 when Everton Ladies played against Wembley Ladies in the Women’s Premier League. Everton lost 3-1 with Louise Thomas becoming the first female Everton player to score at Goodison.
Women’s football is becoming more and more popular with some WSL matches being staged at Premier League grounds. 5,998 fans watched Everton Women against Manchester City Women at Goodison Park in September 2021, which was a record attendance for Everton Women. Following England’s victorious Women’s Euro 2022 campaign, it is going to become even more popular. When Everton Women play at Goodison Park again, it is very possible that the ground will be full of women’s football fanatics again.