Manchester Corinthians, England's Forgotten Champions

A dogged England side beating Germany in the final. The countries first international trophy. Tens of thousands in the crowd. The English side defying the odds to overcome their old nemesis.

 Images of Sir Geoff Hurst’s hat trick and Bobby Moore lifting the trophy surely come to mind. But what if I were to tell you that an English women’s side achieved all of this nine years before the 1966 World Cup glory? This is the story of the Manchester Corinthians.

Corinthians mural in Fog Lane Park, Didsbury.

 As the Lionesses celebrated their Euro 2022 win in a sold-out Wembley it’s hard to imagine that there was once a time when women were banned from playing football in England.

 On the 5th of December 1921, the English Football Association issued a ban that prohibited the playing of women’s football on pitches associated with the FA. This vastly limited the playing opportunities for women of the times despite the huge interest and crowds that it had attracted previously.

 Women’s matches before the ban attracted huge crowds, a women’s boxing day match at Goodison Park in 1920 was attended by 53,000 fans ,3000 more fans than were in attendance for that year’s men’s FA Cup Final.

 Despite the huge interest the FA made the decision to ban the playing of women’s football on FA affiliated pitches, and it’s often thought that interest and participation in women’s then proceeded to fall off. 

 Whilst it became harder for women to play due to the limited number of pitches available to them, Manchester Corinthians helped to prove that there was still a desire to play football. The side helped show that women's could not only still be played to a high level but also the dedication shown by the Corinthians helped highlight the injustice of the women’s ban.

Blue plaque for Manchester Corinthians on Fog Lane Park

 Percy Ashley was a Bolton Wanderers scout and well-known local referee who founded Corinthians Ladies Football Club in 1949 so that his daughter Doris had a place to play. Doris had a cleft lip and was partially deaf, so part of Ashley’s reasoning behind starting the team was to provide a way for her to socialise whilst to support her clear footballing talent.

Ashley chose the team’s name as an homage to Corinthians FC, the men’s amateur football team who were famous for their sporting ideals.

 Despite being named after the upper-class footballing idealists of the Corinthians, Ashley’s side were made up of working-class local women. The sides home ground was at Fog Lane Park in Didsbury, with facilities so basic that players had to take post-match baths in a nearby duck pond.

A mural to the Corinthians on Fog Lane Park.

 Despite their humble origins the Corinthian’s would go on to tour the world playing in tournaments across South America and Europe which attracted tens of thousands of fans in some of the world’s most recognisable stadiums.

Whilst Sir Alf Ramsay’s England side of 1966 is often lauded as the first England side to claim international silverware, they’d already been beaten to the post by Ashley’s side who unofficially represented England at an International Ladies Football Association European Cup in 1957.

 Just like the team of 66’ and the more recent Lionesses, Corinthians had to overcome England’s old rivals Germany to claim the trophy. It goes to show the quality of Ashley’s side that despite the home advantage of the German’s the women from Manchester managed to overcome the odds and win the tournament.

 The club would then in 1960 go on a six-week tour of South America, which was then extended to 3 months, where the Corinthians would take part in and win a women’s international football tournament in Venezuela. Over 50,000 fans were in attendance, as well as the President of Venezuela, to watch the ladies from Fog Lane Park win in the final.

 Whilst the story of Manchester Corinthians is known by some there’s a growing campaign to showcase these trailblazers of women’s football to the masses. Films Not Words is the production company trying to get the Corinthians the film that they deserve.

 BAFTA award winner Helen Tither has taken on this passion project to share the women’s stories, she and several ex-Corinthians players were at West Didsbury and Chorlton Football Club to raise money for the documentary.

  The documentary includes interviews with former Corinthians players as they reflect on some of the clubs’ incredible tours and helps to show the importance that sides like Corinthians had on having the ban on women’s football lifted.

 The documentary collaborated with local Ninth-Tier side West Didsbury & Chorlton for the men's teams last game of the season. West wore limited edition shirts showcasing the Corinthians badge which were auctioned off after the game to help the Crowdfunder.

 West Didsbury and Chorlton manager Chris Rowley spoke on how important championing local causes like the Corinthians documentary was to the club “Engaging with the local community really has made a difference to the club, year on year I’ve been able to see us grow by doing things like this. I hope we’ve been able to help the fundraising for the documentary today.”

 The first round of crowdfunding for the documentary is currently closed but future rounds of donation raising will be taking place in the future to help finish the documentary.

 The story of the ladies from Didsbury who went from Fog Lane Park to the San Siro is truly inspiring and as women’s football sits in the strongest position it’s been in for over a century it’s important to remember the sides who paved the way.

 Manchester Corinthians after all, were the champions.

Fred Whitehead