THE WORLDS LARGEST women’s football conference is set to take place at the National Football Museum on 8 and 9 March 2018.
The conference is taking place to celebrate International Women’s Day, the 100 year anniversary of women receiving the vote and Manchester’s own Wonder Women festival.
The National Football Museum has been researching the hidden history of women’s football for 12 months, following the appointment of academic, sports historian and author, Professor Jean Williams.
Funded by the Arts Council and supported by the University of Wolverhampton and the British Society of Sports History, the conference will feature a range of academic speakers from across the world discussing the global importance of the women’s game over the past 150 years.
The complement this, the museum is holding a number of workshops and events across the month including a talk for from award-winning female football coach and Leicester City under 11’s girls’ manager, Annie Zaidi MBE.
There will also be an object handling session and curator led talk by Collections Officer, Belinda Monkhouse, and a community art project with local artists Helen Mather and Cath Long.
Belinda Monkhouse, Collections Officer at the National Football Museum said: “While some people may have heard of Dick, Kerr Ladies who regularly attracted crowds of 50,000 one hundred years ago, and the subsequent ban on the women’s game, not many know that it has been alive and kicking for one hundred and fifty years. The conference is our way of highlighting the continuing importance of women’s football across the world.”
Tim Desmond, Chief Executive of the National Football Museum said: “We are delighted that Arts Council funding is allowing us to bring the importance of the women’s game to a wider audience, as well as giving us the opportunity to review and reinterpret what is already known. We’re looking forward to people joining the conversation over the next few months.”
The National Football Museum will also host a new display later in the year dedicated to the importance of the women’s game.
To read more about women’s football, follow the National Football Museum’s #hiddenhistory blog at: https://unlockingthehiddenhistory.wordpress.com/
