After the end of the war in 1918, women’s football as a spectator sport became ever more popular, until in 1920 the boxing Day match between Kerr Ladies FC Preston and St Helen’s Lancashire was watched by 50,000 people at Goodison Park, Liverpool, with thousands more waiting outside.
 

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​There were 150 women’s club at this time playing in front of capacity crowds with gate receipts raising money for charities across the country.
 
The following year, the Football Association decided to ban women’s football from being played on their grounds or officiated by their referees citing the reason that football was injurious to their health and that money raised at the matches was being misused.
 
Finally in 1971 the ban was lifted, but the game struggled to take off until the FA formally took control of the financial management in 1993, and then necessary investment was forthcoming.
 
Now, 100 years on, history has come full-circle and women’s football is once again hugely popular and successful. People who hesitate to attend many of the men’s matches for fear of getting caught up in off-pitch violence, enjoy the family friendly atmosphere at their games. Most schools now have girls football teams which is empowering for them, as they excel in an arena once so closely guarded as a male domain.
 
Although even today there is still some negative dialogue around the women’s game, the effects of the ban are starting to be overturned. Mutual respect between men and women goes a long way to providing a culture of peaceful relationships in our day to day lives, and women’s football is another step towards creating that level playing field for all.