Latest News & Items

The History of the Commonwealth Games

30th July 2026

It’s surprising to learn that John Astley Cooper first proposed what has become the Commonwealth Games in 1891: 5 years before the Modern Olympics. The plan was to hold a sports competition every four years “as a means of increasing goodwill and understanding of the British Empire”. Committees were set up throughout the Empire to […]

England Football Team at the FIFA World Cup

25th June 2026

England at the FIFA World Cup over the years  – it’s certainly been a journey! From crushing defeat to glorious victory…to who knows what the 2026 tournament will bring. We’ve still got the fun and great hope of not knowing at this point. The first World Cup took place in Uruguay in 1930. FIFA chose […]

Jim Thorpe: was he the Greatest Athlete in the World?

14th May 2026

Was Jim Thorpe the greatest athlete in the world? King Gustav V of Sweden certainly thought so. He described Thorpe thus as he handed him two gold medals at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Jim Thorpe was a legendary Native American sportsman, who lived from 1888 – 1953.  He was a Sac and Fox Native American, […]

England in the 2023 Women’s Football World Cup

It’s that time again, when we can hope and dare to dream: that England CAN win the 2023 World Cup in New Zealand and Australia. They have a good chance. It’s a great time for women’s football…and it’s a good time to look back at its history.

As we all know, women’s football grew massively in World War One. The Dick Kerr Munitions Works encouraged their women workers to play football during World War One to improve their health and morale. After they beat their male factory co-workers in an informal lunchtime match, the women’s team decided to take their football a little more seriously. They played their first public match in 1917 in front of 10,000 spectators. They beat Arundel Coulthard Factory 4-0. By 1920, they were playing St Helen’s Ladies at Goodison Park in front of 53,000 spectators with 14,000 more trying to get into the grounds.

In 1921 the FA banned women’s football from FA grounds. The men had returned from the War and demand for pitches was too great. All of a sudden football was deemed an unsuitable game for women’s health. The ban lasted 50 years.  Undeterred, Dick Kerr Munitions Works Women’s team renamed themselves Preston Ladies FC and carried on playing. In 1926 they played the Edinburgh Ladies and won 5-1. Deemed an international match, in fact THE international match, Preston Ladies therefore became unofficial World Champions. It would be great if England could make it official this time around.