Sheffield’s footballing history has long been a source of pride for its residents – and increasingly, as the city finds its voice on the national stage, it’s something that crops up time and again in frustrated conversations asking: ‘why don’t we make more of this?’. The sheer travesty that the National Football Museum is based in Manchester rather than, say, the place that actually founded the rules is something even Blades and Owls can agree on enthusiastically – and that’s a rare thing indeed.
So while we may not have the shiny landmarks befitting our role in creating modern football, we do have a wonderful theatre company bringing inspiring stories to the stage that are bound to resonate with local audiences. As such, you can imagine the buzz in the Crucible foyer on opening night for The Ladies Football Club – because if there’s anything guaranteed to whet a Sheffielder’s appetite, it’s a combination of the beautiful game and a true underdog story.
Stefano Massini’s dramatic verse play is inspired by the real surge in women’s teams that formed while many men were away fighting in the First World War. Women working in factories began organising football matches, some of which drew huge crowds – most notably Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C., a Preston-based team who at times played in front of more than 50,000 spectators. In Tim Firth’s adaptation, the story moves to a munitions factory in Sheffield, where a group of workers – inspired by a breaktime kickabout – embark on an empowering journey that momentarily allows them to escape the bleak backdrop of war, and one that will eventually take them to the hallowed turf of Stamford Bridge.
Best friends Violet (Cara Theobold) – who explains that her dad wanted a centre-half for Wednesday while her mum was hoping for a nun – and Rosalyn (Jessica Baglow) – who boasts a latent talent thanks to her brothers always sticking her in goal – emerge as the ringleaders of a ragtag team of 11 who are nothing if not diverse in personality. From firebrand socialist Hayley (Leah Brotherhead) to the mysteriously withdrawn Melanie (Clair Norris), booksmart newsagent’s daughter Olivia (Bettrys Jones) to the boisterous and consistently hilarious Justine (Anne Odeke), there’s plenty of clashing on the factory floor in the early scenes as they break up the monotony and vent frustrations with jibes and putdowns.
Completing the starting line-up are the initially timid, almost ghostlike Cheryl (Krupa Pattani), who rises to become team captain; the rebellious Berenice (Lesley Hart), fighting back against the tyranny of her devout priest father; the Joan of Arc-obsessed Brianna (Ellie Leach); the strictly tell-it-how-it-is Abigail (Charley Webb); and the often misunderstood and underappreciated Penelope (Chanel Waddock). The team’s exploits on the pitch eventually bring them all together as one, sticking two fingers to the factory owner upstairs whose attempts to ridicule them fall flat – that is, until the men return from war to reclaim “their” factories and pitches. Then, just for good measure, the FA decides to ban women’s matches from all football grounds, citing spurious medical evidence and even threatening to fine clubs who go against this rule.
Taking place over two halves of 45 minutes (plus stoppages, of course), it’s difficult to delve deeply into every character’s backstory. Instead, we’re given glimpses of the lives waiting beyond the factory gates – small flashes of home, family and the pressures that shape them. The play’s powerful closing sequence then fast-forwards through the women’s lives after the war, eventually bringing the story right up to the present day with the appearance of a young Lioness.
It’s a reminder that while women’s football has come on hugely in recent years, progress has never been straightforward. The trailblazers who first pulled on their boots and stepped onto the pitch did so in defiance of deeply ingrained gender norms – and their achievements were quickly curtailed when it suited patriarchal structures. The Ladies Football Club honours those pioneers while quietly asking a sobering question: if these gains were once erased so easily, how vigilant must we stay to protect them today?
The Ladies Football Club is written by Stefano Massini, adapted by Tim Firth and directed by Elizabeth Newman. It runs until March 28 at The Crucible.
