Stoppage Time women’s football herstory project

Stoppage Time is a project by FURD to discover, highlight and celebrate the history of women in football in the Sheffield area from the 19th century onwards.

It’s timed and named to mark the centenary of the Football Association’s ban on women playing on FA-affiliated pitches in 1921 and the 50th anniversary of the lifting of the ban in 1971.

Additionally, we hope it will inspire more interest in women and girls’ football as Sheffield and Rotherham gear up to be host cities for the Women’s Euros in July 2022.

Were you, or anyone you know, a woman involved in football in any capacity in the 20th century - or would you like to have been if you'd had the opportunity? Would you like to tell us your (or their) experiences, on or off camera, or do you have any old photos or memorabilia? Please contact us if you'd like to get involved in the project.

The picture shows a South Yorkshire Ladies Football League Cup Winners medal from 1918 won by Alice Wardle. The league was established during the first world war and consisted mainly of teams made up of factory workers, and particularly munitions workers. Miss Wardle played for the Barnsley Shell Factory team where she worked as an engineer, machining the shell cases.

This article about the project appeared in the Sheffield Star on 18th February 2021: 

We will post more information as the project progresses. See the following page for more information: