We were on the pitch with you, paving the way
First ever Lioness captain tells of her Euros pride
ENGLAND’S first Lioness captain has spoken of her overwhelming joy at the Euros triumph, saying she was worried she’d “never live to see the day”.
Sheila Parker, 75, led the England Women’s team debut in 1972, beating Scotland just a year after a 51-year FA ban on women’s football was lifted.
And last Sunday was like an impossible dream come true for her.
Speaking at her home, the grandmother-of-six says: “I never thought it could happen for nearly 90,000 people to watch a women’s game.
“It would have been nice for it to happen in my day because people would have seen some incredible football then. While watching the game, I said to my friend, ‘I started this. I am part of this.’
“I felt like I was on the pitch with them. I can’t tell you how proud I am. But without us the Lionesses wouldn’t be here today. And it’s people like us who paved the way and made the sacrifices.”
Sheila and that first England team certainly had a battle to play the sport they loved.
She worked as a receptionist at a local garage and had to use her annual leave to travel to games.
“When I was England captain, I had to pay fares and pay for my own strip, too” she recalls. “Thankfully, I had an understanding boss proud that
I played for England. It was a
huge sacrifice but a testament to how much we wanted to play. We didn’t have any proper facilities. We had to get changed in sheds, barns and cars. We played on fields where the grass hadn’t been cut. But we enjoyed the sport so much, it was well worth it.”
At just 13 Sheila, of Chorley,
Lancs, signed for the famous Lancashire-based Dick, Kerr Ladies – one of the earliest known women’s teams dating back to 1917. She went on to join Chorley Ladies – and at 24 she was selected to play for the first post-ban official WFA England squad.
Defender Sheila was so good she was given the captain’s armband for the first official fixture against Scotland in 1972, which England won 3-2. She remained captain until 1976 and won six Division One titles – five with Preston Ladies – as well as five League Cups and an FA Cup. In 2013 she
was inducted to the National Football Museum Hall of Fame.
It is no wonder Sheila is an inspiration to the current team. Midfielder Jill Scott, 35, told us: “She is part of the Lioness family.”
But Sheila knows only too well the obstacles are far from gone – through her 18-year-old granddaughter Chloe. “She has felt discouraged because of sexism. She’s been told so much, ‘you can’t play, you’re a girl’. I told her, ‘Turn your ear’. When I was young and wanting to play, boys would look at me and say, ‘Girls don’t play football’. Then they’d see me play and it was, ‘Do you want to join in?’”
Now she hopes her original England team will be properly rewarded by the FA with official caps.
She is being helped by Patricia Gregory, who was a founder of the WFA.
Patricia, 74, of London, says: “They were only ever given homemade caps and we want them to be officially recognised by the FA.
“But that’s unlikely to happen any time soon as the FA only started keeping records when it took over the running of women’s football in 1993.”
Sheila adds: “The attitude is still a bit of an insult as it’s saying the men who got their caps are different from us. But it’s no different and what the Lionesses have done has proved that.”
SHE’S become one of football’s most respected coaches – and best known faces – after guiding the Lionesses to Euros glory.
But this is Sarina Wiegman when she was just a soccer cub learning her trade in the USA.
Raised in the Netherlands, the football daft teenager – already in her national team – headed across the Atlantic in the late Eighties at 19 to attend the University of North Carolina and play for college side North Carolina Tar Heels.
And today former teammate Rita
Tower, 50, recalls fond memories of
Sarina, now 52, as they started out together in a country where women’s football was really flourishing.
Rita, who went on to play for the USA, said: “I was cheering for England and my old teammate all the way through the Euros tournament.
“We played together for a year and Sarina was great.
“She was serious, but had a great sense of humour. The pressure was intense because the standard is so high, but she was equal to it.
“And we had some great times, lots of fun. We all thought she was going to go on and be great. She was impressive. She was already on her national team so every day was 100% effort. She was a standout player.”
Rita also recalls her fellow student’s excellent but rather unusual English.
“Every time she’d call anyone of us she’d say, ‘Hi Sarina’ We’d all be like what? Oh! It’s Sarina. “She’d never say, ‘Hi Rita’. But at least you knew who you were speaking to.”. Rita, who now lives in Houston, says her pal returned to the
Netherlands after a year due to homesickness. She would go on to lead her home country to Euros glory as a manager in 2017. Sarina’s coach at the University of North Carolina was Anson Dorrance who tells us: “I’m so proud of her, it hurts. I watched every second of every England game.“
He says he always knew the girl who began her career with Dutch side KFC ‘71 in the city of Delft would be a success.
“I saw her play in Holland before she got here and she was an elite player, a wonderful midfielder. She was very mature and brave to take a huge risk and move countries – and she fought her way into our squad.”
Sarina’s Tar Heels teammate Pam Kalinoski told how her pal was a lot funnier than the serious player they saw on the pitch. Pam, 52, said: “Sarina was great at delivering a funny line. I remember at an end-of-season dinner on campus it was a tradition for younger players to make fun of the older ones.
“She stood up and did a great job imitating one who had a Southern accent, which is really a hard thing for someone from overseas to pull off, but she did it brilliantly.
“Everyone was in hysterics – it was hilarious. Sarina was laughing as she did it too and it was all taken in good spirits.
“But watching her in the Euros reminded me of what she was like as a player on the pitch – super-composed. She doesn’t let you see her emotions, but they’re there. It was good to see her celebrating so authentically after England won in the final.”
Meanwhile, Rita hopes she will be able to congratulate her old friend in person on her success. She said: “We have reunions regularly but Sarina has never attended as she lives so far away but we’d love to see her again.
“We actually have another reunion coming up at the university in
September and it would be amazing to see her there.
“She’s part of the Carolina family.”