The team was formed during the First World War by a group of munitions girls at the Dick, Kerr factory on Strand Road in Preston, to raise funds for wounded soldiers being cared for at the Moor Park Military Hospital. The first game was played on Christmas Day 1917 at Deepdale, the home of Preston North End, in front of a crowd of 10,000 spectators. They were an instant success winning the match 4-0 with £600 raised for the wounded soldiers (£38k today). The team went from strength to strength and in 1920 they played the first ladies international match against a team from France when 25,000 spectators came to Deepdale to watch them. It was a record crowd for the ground at that time and the Preston girls won by 2-0. They toured France later in the year playing matches in Paris, Roubaix, Le Havre, and Rouen and returned home unbeaten receiving a rapturous welcome from huge cheering crowds at Preston Railway Station.
On Boxing Day 1920, a record-breaking crowd of 53,000 packed into Goodison Park, Everton, to see them take on St Helens Ladies, with between 10,000-14,000 people locked out unable to gain admission to the ground. Despite an FA Ban on Ladies football in 1921, the Dick, Kerr Ladies continued to play football and raise money for charity until 1965. They played 833, won 759, drew 46 and lost only 28 games, and they raised somewhere in the region of £180,000 for charity (£10 million today).
By Gail Newsham – Gail has written the history of Dick, Kerr’s Ladies – “In a League of their Own”.
For more information visit: http://www.dickkerrladies.com/
History of the Women's Football Association 