Women's soccer back in 1949 Helensburgh

To celebrate the FIFA Women’s World Cup, we asked Janet Lee of Helensburgh & District Historical Society to share a story from their files.

This page from 3 November 1949 in The Helensburgh-Scarborough News features the Helensburgh Women’s soccer team, formed during the miner’s strike to lift people’s spirits.

Jan writes: “They had no uniform but wore the men’s Thistle soccer club top with shorts. They played against other women’s soccer teams in the Illawarra – Scarborough, Thirroul. The Helensburgh team was undefeated. They played for two years (according to Bede Parkes nee Collins, wrongly named Babe Collins in the photo) and then no more women’s soccer was played until the 1960s.

“The original of this photo hung in the Centennial Hotel for many years.”

Read The Matilda Effect to learn how grassroots girls soccer is kicking off in the Illawarra