'I uncovered England team's first ever photograph and it cost me peanuts'
'I uncovered England team's first ever photograph and it cost me peanuts'
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The first photograph ever taken of England women’s football team the Lionesses has been uncovered. It was taken in 1918 during the First World War when Scotland played England in an international match. Another image of the Scotland team found by historian Steve Bolton has also never been seen before. He is now kindly donating them to the Scottish Football Museum.
The collection, based at Hampden Park, has only ever included memorabilia from 1965 – now it will date back almost half a century earlier. Mr Bolton, who discovered postcards of the images online and paid “peanuts” for them, said: “This England team was the forerunner of the current Lionesses. I couldn’t believe it when I found these two photos – they really are part of football history. They are the first ever team photos of the England and Scotland teams. The match was played in Glasgow and they should be back in Scotland.”.
A poster for the fundraising game proclaimed: “Ladies’ Football Match – Beardmore’s Effort for Infirmaries. Scotland v England. Celtic Park Saturday Mar 2 1918.” It added: “Wounded soldiers admitted free.”. Mr Bolton, 60, is a respected author and historian whose granny Lizzy Ashcroft was one of the great players of the 1920s. He was just a child when she died aged 68 in 1973. The wartime England players were all picked from women working at the Vickers shipbuilding and munitions complex in Barrow, Cumbria.
More than 1,200 women worked inside the giant factories – many of them teenagers – and they produced 6.8 million shells for use in battle. They won the match 4-0. The goalscorers were Dickenson with two and Bradley with one, while the other was an own goal.
