Women's football is now widely broadcast on mainstream TV channels. Extensive coverage is given to major international tournaments such as the European Championship and World Cup. Several nations have established a professional domestic league and the sport continues to grow around the globe. The roots of the game in Scotland stretch back over 100 years but it hasn't been a story of steady progress. Far from it. Women's football had to endure long spells of an unsupportive Scottish Football Association (SFA), who even resorted to proscription from 1948 onwards, denying the ladies permission to use stadia owned by men's clubs, or to engage the services of registered referees. This state of affairs wasn't altered until 1974, when token acceptance was granted by the men in suits. Just three years beforehand, following the staging of two "rebel" world cups, the European Association (UEFA) had proposed bringing the ladies game under the umbrella of each national body. Only one country - shamefully, Scotland - voted against the motion.
During WW1, women's football caught the public's attention and became a popular spectator sport. Teams often developed around industrial centres and factories, where females had taken over the bulk of production duties, while huge numbers of men were overseas on the battle front. It was a major shift in society but the old order was re-established shortly after the hostilities ended and many of the women's football clubs faded away. In 1921 the Football Association (FA), who govern the English game, refused to recognise fixtures involving female players. The effects of this move rippled across the United Kingdom and few sides were left competing on a regular basis. The Scottish football authorities (for now) stopped short of prohibition but actively discouraged promotion of the ladies game. It was remarkable that a new outfit - Rutherglen Ladies FC - emerged around this time and attracted significant media coverage. My sister Linda told me that Kirkcaldy Museum was hosting a touring exhibition on this trailblazing team and I popped down after work one day to have a look. Comprising mainly storyboards and photographs, the exhibition first opened at the Scottish Football Museum, Hampden Park, Glasgow in 2021 - the 100th anniversary of the original ban. There was an element of showbiz surrounding the staging of Rutherglen's matches and the team was the brainchild of professional entertainer James Kelly, who led a troupe called Kelly's Celtic Combination - featuring dancers, singers, comedians and mime artists. Kelly was a skilled publicist and organised fixtures with a selling point, such as having a well-known former professional footballer as the referee. Local dignitaries were invited to perform the ceremonial coin-toss. The new club was able to hoover up talented players who had been cast adrift when their old sides had folded. A couple of Fifers starred for Rutherglen: Chrissie Stevenson (Cowdenbeath) and May Watson (Auchterderran, pictured below). This added some local interest to the display. When Rutherglen defeated the successful Lancashire side Dick Kerr Ladies at Shawfield Stadium, Glasgow in 1923, Kelly dubbed his charges "world champions" - whipping out this epithet at every available opportunity.
Kelly faced the continual problem of finding suitable opponents, which he cunningly solved by simply running two teams and rebranding one (or sometimes both) as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Scotland or Ireland - depending on where an exhibition match was taking place. This model ensured the crowd was guaranteed a competitive spectacle. The strategy enabled Rutherglen (and their reserve players) to tour all over the British Isles and an "Ireland v Scotland" fixture in Dublin attracted 12000 spectators. The star woman in the line-up was Sadie Smith, whose granddaughter is Eddi Reader, the famous pop/folk singer. By the mid-1930s, the squad was beginning to age and several players dropped out after getting married. Kelly was unable to continue financing major tours and Rutherglen played their last recorded fixture in 1939. Women's football across the UK entered the doldrums after the war and didn't really pick up again until the early 70s. It is impossible to discuss the modern age without mentioning the towering figure of Rose Reilly. A native of Ayrshire, the teenage Rose was part of the Stewarton side that lifted the inaugural Scottish Cup in 1971 and reached the WFA Cup final the same year. She was capped 10 times for Scotland before moving to France (and later Italy) to pursue a professional career. Reilly and two other Scotland players were barred for life by the SFA in 1975 after criticising the poor organisation of the domestic game. During her 22-year spell in Italian football with a number of clubs, Reilly won eight league titles and four cup medals. She turned out for the Italian national side and the crowing glory in 1984 was lifting the Mundialito - the precursor to the modern FIFA Women's World Cup. Thankfully the sport is now fully embraced by the SFA and Rose Reilly is honoured within the Hall of Fame at the Scottish Football Museum, where she is pictured in her Azzurri shirt holding the coveted silverware aloft.
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