Girls’ football teams are catching on

Then in 1968 - Chippenham United is the third all-girls football team to be formed in Middlesbrough. Valerie Hall (14) of Chippenham Road, Easterside had the idea of forming a team after she had watched the local boys playing. “I thought we could do just as well and so did some of my friends” said Valerie who plays centre forward and is the team captain.
  
The idea caught on and within a week a number of the girl’s parents had formed a fund raising committee and Dennis Simpson (35) was appointed team manager. The girls turn out for training each night and according to Mr Simpson their enthusiasm is remarkable. “They show a natural aptitude for the game” he said.
  
Raffles provided the funds for footballs and the all-white kit – the influence of Tottenham Hotspur. But the team has come up against the solid defence of Teesside Borough Council who refuse to allow goal posts to be erected on an open space adjacent to the estate. So the team has had to pay out £12 for the hire of a nearby pitch.
  
Of the three games played so far against All Saints, a Harland eleven, and Saltersgill Rangers, the girls have won one and lost two. “Girls football teams are catching on,” said Mr Simpson. “It is a natural healthy game and not at all unfeminine and it is fine exercise for young girls.

Back row L/R: Susan Waite, Anne Roberts, Valerie Hall, Janice McGuire, Christine Smith, Mary O’Connor.
Front Row L/R: Jackie Roberts, Joyce Sampson, Jeanette Appleby, Sandra Appleby, Barbara Lee.

This article originally appeared in the April 1999 issue of Now & Then Magazine