England's first Lioness captain has spoken of her overwhelming joy at last weekend’s Euros triumph, saying she was worried she’d “never live to see the day”.
Sheila Parker, 75, led the England Women’s team debut in 1972, beating Scotland just a year after a 51-year FA ban on women’s football was lifted.
And last Sunday was like an impossible dream come true for her.
Speaking at her home, the grandmother-of-six says: “I never thought it could happen for nearly 90,000 people to watch a women’s game.
“It would have been nice for it to happen in my day because people would have seen some incredible football then. While watching the game, I said to my friend, ‘I started this. I am part of this.’
“I felt like I was on the pitch with them. I can’t tell you how proud I am. But without us the Lionesses wouldn’t be here today. And it’s people like us who paved the way and made the sacrifices.”
Sheila and that first England team certainly had a battle to play the sport they loved. She worked as a receptionist at a local garage and had to use her annual leave to travel to games.
“When I was England captain, I had to pay fares and pay for my own strip, too” she recalls.
“Thankfully, I had an understanding boss proud that I played for England. It was a huge sacrifice but a testament to how much we wanted to play. We didn’t have any proper facilities. We had to get changed in sheds, barns and cars. We played on fields where the grass hadn’t been cut. But we enjoyed the sport so much, it was well worth it.”
At just 13 Sheila, of Chorley, Lancs, signed for the famous Lancashire-based Dick, Kerr Ladies – one of the earliest known women’s teams dating back to 1917.
She went on to join Chorley Ladies – and at 24 she was selected to play for the first post-ban official WFA England squad.
Defender Sheila was so good she was given the captain’s armband for the first official fixture against Scotland in 1972, which England won 3-2. She remained captain until 1976 and won six Division One titles – five with Preston Ladies – as well as five League Cups and an FA Cup. In 2013 she was inducted to the National Football Museum Hall of Fame.
It’s no wonder Sheila is an inspiration to the current England team. Midfielder Jill Scott, 35, told us: “She is part of the Lioness family.”
But Sheila knows only too well the obstacles are far from gone – through her 18-year-old granddaughter Chloe.
Sheila tells the Sunday Mirror: “She has felt discouraged because of sexism. She’s been told so much, ‘you can’t play, you’re a girl’. I told her, ‘Turn your ear’. When I was young and wanting to play, boys would look at me and say, ‘Girls don’t play football’. Then they’d see me play and it was, ‘Do you want to join in?’”
Now she hopes her original England team will be properly rewarded by the FA with official caps.
She’s being helped by Patricia Gregory, who was a founder of the WFA.
Patricia, 74, of London, says: “They were only ever given homemade caps and we want them to be officially recognised by the FA.
“But that’s unlikely to happen any time soon as the FA only started keeping records when it took over the running of women’s football in 1993.”
Sheila adds: “The attitude is still a bit of an insult as it’s saying the men who got their caps are different from us.
"But it’s no different, and what the Lionesses have done has proved that.”
'Let's make all clubs gender equal'
The boss of the UK's first gender equal football club, which splits its budget and resources equally between the men's and women's first teams, says all clubs should follow suit.
Since Lewes FC in East Sussex went gender equal five years ago, both teams have been promoted, men’s attendance has risen by 82% - and women’s attendance have increased by a massive 367%.
Most women's football clubs run at a loss, so Lewes has partnered with small business platform Xero to help champion the women's game by increasing recruitment from school age groups.
CEO Maggie Murphy said: “We've made revolutionary strides in the women’s game, which will benefit the wider women’s game."
Through Xero’s support, the Lewes FC will highlight the importance of financial sustainability and the vital role it plays in achieving an equitable playing field for its talent.
Xero's director of operations Kate Hayward added: “Lewes FC has made revolutionary strides in the women’s game. We both understand the strength of community, and we believe in the power of women’s football but also its relationship with small business communities.
" Improving the financial health of clubs can make a difference and our sponsorship will help Lewes FC tell genuine, authentic stories about the importance of financial sustainability in a way that will benefit the wider women’s game. We believe that together we can grow the game.”
