Magazine Feature - Artefact Magazine - The Fulham Lillies and the fight for safe football spaces

Thank you to Evie Allen-Jones for highlighting the plight of the Fulham Lillies to create a safe space for everyone at football matches.

Being a football fan is sometimes a birthright, more than a choice; teams are passed down through generations, along with stories of great wins, great players, and sometimes of trauma and pain.

It is more than a sport, it’s a community. Fans have unspoken connections with others all around the world, all feeling the same great highs and lows.

Football, or soccer to some, is the most popular sport in the world. Its global appeal is vast, reaching an estimated 3.5 billion fans. Despite its origins tracing back to Ancient Greece, China and Rome, the sport is known best for its connection to England.

The official formation of The Football Association (FA) took place in 1863, establishing the official system of rules and the beginning of a global sporting industry.

Women have always been involved with football. In fact, Mary, Queen of Scots, owned the oldest football in existence during her reign and was a fan of the sport. In the late 1880s, after the formation of the FA, women’s football matches were officially established.

Over the next forty years, the game grew, and according to the FA, “During and after the War, Dick and Kerr Ladies toured the country playing charity games to raise money for injured servicemen.”

However, like in many aspects of history, women were dismissed and overlooked. Following the war, in 1921, women were banned from playing football, with the FA stating, “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.”

This signalled the beginning of a long battle for women to be accepted within the sport.

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