Quite Unfit for Females (1921)

Topical Budget (the great British newsreel that ran from 1911-31) here presents a light-hearted item on the Football Association's proposed ban on women's football.

Women's football was extremely popular in the 1920s. Indeed, on Boxing Day 1920, 53,000 fans packed into Goodison Park to watch the Dick, Kerr's Ladies beat the St Helens Ladies 4-0.

It's hard to tell whether or not this news item supported the ban, though its cameraman clearly enjoyed observing the players in their knitted kit undergoing a rigorous exercise regime. And keep your eyes peeled for a very dodgy-looking chap in tweeds and a Hitler moustache. (Robin Baker)

(This is a higher-quality version of a video first published on YouTube in February 2008.)

For more information about Topical Budget newsreels see http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/583128/index.html

You can watch over 2000 other complete films and TV programmes from the BFI National Archive free of charge at the BFI Mediatheque. There are Mediatheques at BFI Southbank, London, QUAD, Derby, Central Library, Cambridge, Wrexham Library and the Discovery Museum, Newcastle:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/mediatheque
http://www.derbyquad.co.uk/bfi-mediatheque
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/online/bfi_media.htm
http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/english/community/libraries/LibHome.htm
http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/discovery/

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• BFI National Archive
• football
• women
• newsreels
• 1920s
• 20s
• twenties

[daydreamer1991white]

The man in the background at 0.33 kind of looked like Hitler.. D:

[highfive96]

Its the mustache..

in the 20s and 30s it was totally "in" to have them..

today.. not so much...

[TheHolandTrip]

@daydreamer1991white Charlie Chaplin!

[ManilaSyndicate]

( lol ) Women.

[MerleOberon]

Did they ban women's football?

[masopher]

Hitler totally ripped the style off Charlie Chaplin

[VOXS2]

im more interested between videos unseen from the last 1800s and upto 1902 they seem more interesting almost like as if they came from a different planet all together

[modelearth]

this is amazing. wow what a great look at the past!

[madbob73]

The 'action' in this clip reminded me of Harry Enfields 'Charles Charlie-Charles' !

[JAMamation]

@daydreamer1991white

second that.