Friday marks a milestone occasion for Australia's female football history; marking 100 years since the first public game of football was played by women in Australia at the Brisbane Cricket Ground (The Gabba) on 24 September 1921.
Female football has experienced tremendous growth in the 100 years since this match; with the efforts, sacrifice and hard work of so many pioneers paving the way for the women's game we enjoy today.
This milestone is a timely opportunity to reflect on how far we have come and how far we still have to go, to ensure we have gender equity across all areas of our game by 2027.
10,000 people attended the match in 1921 and while it is pointed out by the more cynical that there was a men’s match afterwards, the firm belief remains that this match would have drawn the crowd on its own.
In fact, women’s matches were drawing very large crowds in England at the time and only a few weeks later a headline match in Ipswich drew 3,000 standalone.
The ‘Gabba’ match was well-received by the crowd. The Queensland Times described, ‘the skilful treatment of the game by these young ladies’, and noted that ‘the girls showed remarkable stamina’, and ‘evidence of keen training’.
On the day, The Reds, of North Brisbane, won by 2 goals to nil over the Blues, of South Brisbane.
The 100 year milestone will be celebrated around the country, including a match re-enactment in Queensland and event showcasing the past, present and future of women's football.
South Australia will commemorate the day with all eight teams playing at one venue for their penultimate match of the 2021 WNPL SA season, with each team wearing heritage shirts for the occasion.
In addition to sharing our national football story, here in Victoria, we'll take a look back at some of the key moments that shaped women's football in our state through a timeline video.
We also encourage our community to join our Facebook group, Victoria's Football History, to share your own memories, photos and information. There are many gaps in historic records that dedicated football historians are trying valiantly to fill and we urge our community to share their knowledge in this forum. We want to ensure past generations are properly acknowledged for their contribution - and new generations have a solid understanding of those who paved the way.
