Club news
International Women’s Day 2021
#ChooseToChallenge
A week of celebration
(All times shown are GMT)
Monday, March 8th
100 years since the FA Ban
Club partners Lyle & Scott produced this 2’20” film featuring ex-England/Chelsea footballer and Lewes FC director, Claire Rafferty.
Claire meets football historian Gail Newsham in this the 100th anniversary year of the FA’s 1921 ban on women’s football and talks to Lewes FC players.
Monday, March 8th
A Rook at Bedtime
This day saw the launch of a new children’s book called ‘My Mummy Is A Footballer’.
The book was inspired by Lewes FC, so Rooks’ midfield ace Paula Howells did alive reading to help get the little ones to bed…
Monday, March 8th, 7pm
The Magnificent Seven
Karen Dobres (club director), Maggie Murphy (club GM), Ini Umotong (striker), Tash Fairbanks (Women’s Walking Football group), Lucy Barnes (U16s coach), Priscilla Aldridge (owner), Amy Critchfield (U18 captain) talked about their challenges & victories in football, on and off the pitch.
(This recording is of the speakers’ stories. The following Q&A was not recorded)
Tuesday, March 9th
The truth about the 1921 women’s football ban
Club director Charlie Dobres in conversation with striker Ini Umotong. What was the political/historical context for the ban? What role did the media play? Was then Prime Minister Lloyd George involved? Who was the man who headed the FA at the time? What has been the impact?
Wednesday, March 10th
The Coaching Pioneers
Club Chair, Stuart Fuller, interviewed two of the very few female coaches employed at men’s League clubs in England, Manisha Taylor (QPR) and Natalie Henderson (Newcastle). What are the unique skills that they bring to their working environment?
Thursday, March 11th
Clubhouse:“What if women ran women’s football?”
Lewes FC & Women’s Sport Collective host a discussion room on the Clubhouse platform. It’s a kind of Thought Experiment… What if independent national federations, even a new global federation, were owned and run by women? Is the growth of the women’s game currently held back, however, unintentionally, by men at the top? Will it ever change fast enough?
(No recording available)
Friday, March 12th, 5 PM
Culture, Community and Commercial Growth in Women’sFootball
Organised by the Athens Women’s Football Summit.
A cross-cultural conversation featuring General Managers Alyse LaHue (SkyBlue FC) and Maggie Murphy (Lewes FC), moderated by international agent Maggie Ntim. They talked about the practical aspects of being GM at pioneering football clubs.