Girls Allowed

The existence of women’s football in Britain is hard won. Dismissed as nothing more than a novelty sideshow, it seemed for years that women were destined never to play football in any serious form. Girls Allowed charts the story of that struggle — from theatre peculiarity, through bans, false dawns and discrimination, to today, where women’s football is the fastest-growing sport in the world.

But despite the ceremony and razzmatazz that is beginning to surround the game in England, the contrast with Scotland is stark. There are only three fully professional teams, meaning that many players have to hold down “normal” jobs before even thinking about their football careers.

Girls Allowed tells a celebratory, but cautionary tale. For all the enormous strides that have been made, inequality persists. Women’s football is still the poor relation and needs all the historic grit, passion, determination and resilience of all involved — in some cases, just to survive.

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210 pages, paperback