Soccer During the War-The Dick, Kerr Ladies Perspective

By | April 22, 2015

Sports and war have a complex relationship and even more complex history. We’ve talked about how even enemies on the battlefield sometimes find it difficult to resist a good game. Sports were also a method whereby the Cold War was waged. However in Gail Newsham’s In a League of Their Own: The Dick, Kerr Ladies 1917-1965 (2014) were are given another perspective of the what can happen when sports and war interact. (Another perspective of the relationship between war and sports can be found hereDick Kerr Gail Newsham discusses how food rationing and travel restrictions caused the Dick, Kerr Ladies team to abruptly halt much of the things it had going on at the time. The uncertain length of the period of minimal operations could have easily caused the team to lose much of its momentum and thunder. The fact that Florrie Redford had returned to the team in 1938 leaving the edge she once played with somewhere in Canada left the Dick, Kerr Ladies without one of their stars. Moreover women from around the country wanted to join the prestigious team, while groups around the country desperately appealed to the ladies for help in raising money-one of which had been banned by the Welsh FA for reasons rooted in sexist ideology. Despite all of these obstacles, the Dick, Kerr Ladies returned to the world of women’s soccer in 1946 and destroyed the Lancashire County Ladies, 5-0.

Although brief, I thoroughly enjoyed  Gail’s Newsham’s chapter in her book on the state of the Dick, Kerr Ladies during the Second World War and how they countered hurdle after hurdle.

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