New book shines fresh light on pioneering women's football team

Local football historian Dr Gary James has taken a step further in his quest to make the pioneering women’s football team, Manchester Corinthians LFC, a household name.  

In January of last year, Gary published a book titled: ‘Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History’, to honour the remarkable journey of a football club which broke down barriers and helped to put women’s football on the map.   

Later this year, the Hattersley born writer plans to release a revised and updated paperback edition, with even more remarkable stories told firsthand by those who were there. 

The club, founded in 1948, went on to tour the globe against all odds, during a period where women’s football was far from accepted. 

As well as women’s football being generally frowned upon at the time, there was also an FA ban on women’s football using FA affiliated grounds dating back to 1921, before this was lifted in 1970.   

During their inaugural seasons, Manchester Corinthians played friendlies and small scale competitions in the UK, but during the mid to late 1950s they embarked on a series of European tours.   

Their fame grew and they received invites to play across Europe, in Africa and in South America.    

Occasionally, the club played as an unofficial England side in tournaments, in the days before an official England team existed.   

They found success often, becoming the most successful women’s team by some distance.   

Along with their sister club, the Nomads, Corinthians also went on to become founding members of the Women’s Football Association. 

Women from across Greater Manchester and beyond have featured for the Corinthians over the years, but Tameside in particular has a profound link to the club:   

“Although the Corinthians were based in Didsbury for much of the club’s history, Tameside is significant,” Gary told the Reporter.  

“Lots of players came from Tameside and many still live here.    

“As someone born and raised in Hattersley it pleases me that the borough played a significant role in the development of women’s football.” 

Ahead of the book’s release, Gary is hoping to catch up with even more former players, to hear their inspirational tales. 

“There’s many more out there that I’d love to track down,” the De Montfort University Honorary Research Fellow told the Reporter. 

“I’ve found well over 350 names of women who played for the club, and while I’ve interviewed over 50, it’s still a small proportion. 

“I set up a campaign a few years ago, encouraging people to ask their mums and nans if they played football.

“Although it started as something a bit silly, we’ve actually managed to track down a couple of former Corinthians through it. 

“A lot of women who played for this club, and other clubs in the area, didn’t really talk much about it, and only now are we are hearing their stories all these years later.” 

As mentioned, the book will be published later this year, but is already available for pre-order. 

Those who order before July 1 will get their name published on a special roll of honour within the book, which will be sent out to all subscribers on publication. 

For more information, visit the following link: https://tinyurl.com/4vpyph86 

Alternatively, contact Gary via email: gary@gjfootballarchive.com