After 50 years the pride still shines for an original Lioness
Janet Clark relives, with Tom Garry, playing in England’s first official women’s international in front of 400 people
Half a century on, Janet Clark can still hear the sound of her mother’s voice down the phone when her letter arrived from the Women’s Football Association. “You’re in, you’re in the squad!” At 17, she had been selected for England’s first official women’s international, against Scotland.
She was then Janet Bagguley, a defensive “enforcer” in midfield, playing for Macclesfield Ladies. Today, she is the smiling postwoman in Buxton, Derbyshire, still delivering for the nation. Her number is four – not an address, but her legacy number as the fourth of the so far 227 players officially to play for the England’s women’s team.
The FA introduced legacy numbers this month to mark the 50th anniversary of the team’s first recognised match, on Saturday Nov 18, 1972, against Scotland at Ravenscraig Stadium in Greenock. England fought back from 2-0 down to win 3-2.
“What I remember was the pitch was horrendous,” Clark says. “It was covered in ice. We said most men would have refused to play. It was a very small ground. A lot of the men and lads in the crowd had just turned up for a laugh, but then once they saw us play, they changed their opinions.”
The attendance was a mere 400 as Sylvia Gore, Lynda Hale and Jeannie Allott scored in the second half for England, who were managed by Loughborough College lecturer and former Queens Park Rangers and Watford forward Eric Worthington, who Clark recalls as a “lovely, caring bloke and a very, very good manager”.
She adds: “He worked us hard, he’d say, ‘You’re here to work – all I want from you on that pitch is 100 per cent’. And that’s all you can do, isn’t it? We were 2-0 down at half-time, Mr Worthington gave us a good talking to during the break and we went out and won. But the thing that really stuck out was wearing that England shirt and the national anthem – that is such a feeling, you’re feeling so proud.”
Allott told the BBC’S My Moment in History podcast this month that she hitch-hiked her way to the match from Crewe. Allott and Clark had not seen each other in nearly 50 years before a reunion at Wembley in October, when the FA organised for the legends of the women’s national side to be recognised on the pitch as England beat the world champions the United States in a friendly.
That moment was symbolic of the women’s game’s transformation over five decades: from being banned by the FA for almost 50 years until 1971, through Clark’s generation paying to play, to a sold-out Wembley watching professional stars. Clark went along to the celebration with several family members, including her hugely proud 93-year-old father.
She is speaking pitchside at the Lensbury Resort, a luxury hotel by the Thames, after watching the current Lionesses train and meeting the Euros-winning squad. “I’m absolutely thrilled to bits to be here,” she says. “The girls have been brilliant for us, and have made us feel welcome.”
The Women’s Super League players are all full professionals, but in Clark’s day players had to ask for time off from their regular jobs to represent their country. Clark was working as a junior clerk at the Ferodo brake company, and recalls her line manager signing her in and out so she could play at Greenock as she had no leave left.
“I’d got three brothers and they played football, so I played football. I was a right tomboy I suppose,” she reflects. “I can remember my mum tearing her hair out when I used to come home absolutely head-to-foot in mud. I used to say to my brothers, ‘get Mum talking so I can get past her and go for a bath’. When she caught me there was hell.
“But then I went for England trials and Mum phoned me at Ferodo saying, ‘A letter’s come, from the WFA, what shall I do?’ I said, ‘Open it’ and I can hear her screaming now, ‘You’re in, you’re in the squad,’ and then she shouted to tell all the neighbours. They’re special memories.”
Clark smiles as she says she still loves her “12 miles a day” as a postie, adding: “This is my 13th year. I could have retired last year but I’m still enjoying it so while I’m enjoying it I keep doing it.” Now forevermore she will be England’s No4.