Dick Kerr Ladies FC was founded in Preston, Lancashire as one of the earliest women’s association football teams in the UK, and continued to play until 1965.
From a total of 828 games, they won 758 and lost only 24.
They were formed in 1917 as a wartime works time for Dick, Kerr & Co who were initially oil refiners and paint manufacturers.
During the war their factory was used to produce munitions, and the women began to join the men on their breaks to play informal games of football. After beating the men, the squad was formed and even played to a crowd of 10,000 on Christmas Day 1917 at Deepdale.
The team faced strong opposition from the FA, who banned women from using pitches controlled by FA-affiliated clubs – this was supposedly due to concerns that women were not physically able to play the game, but in truth the team often attracted bigger crowds than those seen at nearby men’s games on the same day – once pulling in 53,000 spectators at Goodison.
