The first Lioness
EXCLUSIVE Laura Connor THE Lionesses’ first skipper was overjoyed by England’s Euros win, fearing she’d never live to see the day.
Sheila Parker, 75, led the side to victory over Scotland in 1972, a year after a ban on women’s football was lifted.
The gran-of-six, of Chorley, Lancs, said: “While watching the game on Sunday, I turned to my friend and said, ‘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.”
Sheila and her team paved the way for today’s Lionesses and made many sacrifices to get the recognition they deserved.
Sheila was a full-time garage receptionist and had to use annual leave to travel to games and pay for her fares and football strip.
She said: “We didn’t have proper facilities. We had to get changed and washed in sheds, barns and cars. We played on fields where the grass hadn’t been cut and was several inches high. To see the
Lionesses win shows it was all worth it.”
Sexism
Sheila signed for
Dick, Kerr Ladies at just 13 before joining
Chorley Ladies. At 24, she was picked for the first official WFA England side, when a 50-year ban on women’s footie ended. The game had been deemed “quite unsuitable for females”.
Defender Sheila was made captain for the 1972 Scotland game and kept the armband until 1976. She remains an inspiration to many, including the current Lioness squad and her own granddaughter Chloe, 18.
England midfielder Jill Scott, 35, said: “Sheila is part of the Lioness family.”
But even today, Chloe faces sexism and is told she cannot play because she is a girl. Sheila tells her to ignore such remarks, just as she did when she started playing.
Sheila said: “Before I joined Dick, Kerr Ladies the boys would say: ‘You’re not playing, you’re a girl. Girls don’t play football.’ And then they would see me play and said, ‘Do you want to join in?’ So I joined in. I just loved the game.”
Now she hopes her team from the 70s will be properly rewarded by the FA with official caps. She’s being helped by Patricia Gregory, 74, who played a key role in the formation of the Women’s Football Association.
The FA announced plans to award legacy caps to the original 1972 Lionesses and all England players since – but the project has been hindered by gaps in the governing body’s records, which Patricia is trying to rectify.
Sheila said: “It would be brilliant to get caps for the original team and be reunited with everyone. The attitude is still a bit of an insult because it’s saying that all over those decades, the men who’ve got their caps are somehow different from what us women achieved.”
People like us paved the way.. we got changed in cars and played on grass several inches high, so to see them win shows it was worth it