Historian searching for former Manchester Corinthians L.F.C players

Local football historian Gary James is on the lookout for local women who played for Manchester Corinthians Ladies Football Club, ahead of the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the great side.

Manchester Corinthians was a local women’s football team that was founded in 1949 and played until 1983 when the team was dissolved.

The team was founded in 1949 by Percy Ashley, principally so that his daughter, Doris, could play. Their home ground was Fog Lane Park in Didsbury, which had such basic facilities that players had to take post-match baths in a nearby duck pond. Ashley chose the team name as a homage to Corinthian FC, the men's amateur football team from London, famous for their sporting ideals.

The team was immediately successful, winning numerous trophies in the first ten years of their existence. In 1957, the team toured Portugal, then competed in the International Ladies Football Association-organised European Cup, where it beat a team representing Germany. During the tournament, Bert Trautmann acted as the team's interpreter. This proved the first of many annual tours, the longest being a 12-week tour of South America and the Caribbean in 1960. Some matches attracted crowds of tens of thousands, and large amounts were raised for charity.

The Corinthians played at a time when women's football was banned by the FA, so they had to overcome so many barriers and really fight to even be allowed to play.

To commemorate the side, a plaque is set to be unveiled next month on Friday October 6 at Fog Lane Park, where as mentioned, Corinthians used to play their home matches.

Speaking about the plaque, Gary said, “We don’t have enough blue plaques in Greater Manchester that are about sport, and as far as I’m aware we don’t have any at all that reference women’s football, this needed to change.

“This team's contribution to football in Greater Manchester needs to be recognised”, he added.

“We want as many former players as possible to come down to the unveiling and celebrate this great occasion.”

Ahead of this unveiling, local football historian Gary James is looking for local ex-players who played for the club between 1949 and 1983, to come forward and tell their story.

If you played or know of anyone who has represented the club in the past, especially if you’re from Tameside, then we’d love to hear from you and learn more about your story. You can get in contact with us via our sports reporter Lewis Connell, his email is lewis.connell@questmedianetwork.co.uk, or you can contact Gary directly, his email is gary@gjfootballarchive.com