Whats the biggest f*ck up by the F.A. ? Banning women from playing football 100 years ago.

Today marks a huge milestone. England Women's Football being backed by the FA and sponsors on a national scale. Half a million tickets have been sold for the tournament; tonight's match was a record?68,871?and I'm certain this will be smashed if our Lionesses reach the final at Wembley. We are about to experience the start of a revolution within football, and a doubling of our playing population. A very exciting prospect.

Like with anything, in order to look forward, we must understand where we have come from.

Only 6 months ago it was the 100-year anniversary of the English Football Association (FA) passing a resolution prohibiting women's football matches from being played in their stadiums, effectively banning the sport for women. Today marks a huge milestone for the female game, showing what the FA and society have missed out on.

As a business-minded person, I was shocked to hear that any governing body would find it reasonable to ban 50% of the population to participate in the sport, and to let the ban stand for 50 years! It never occurred to me that this was the case; football was never thought to be a sport for girls when I was a child and girls were never involved in football at PE or at club level.

As a father of 2 girls, both of which play at a woman's and girl's football club, times have most definitely moved on. They are 4 & 6 years old and love every football session. As a coach of Loughborough Lightning Cricket Academy, I'm very aware of the fact players can't be what they can’t see. My girl's mum and both grannies never got the opportunity to play football in their youth due to this ban. All 3 played netball instead of football, despite a level of interest in playing with their brother and friends. As a result, they both do not have female football role models within our family and they are reliant on my male influence and passion within the sport rather than their mum’s.

So, what has society missed? Should my girls know about the earlier generations struggle before them? And what happened before the ban?

Pre-1921 Ban

Women’s football was massive, drawing crowds of 53,000 even after the first World War??had ended. As men got called to fight abroad, women took on traditional "male" roles in society. Jobs within factories that were previously reserved for men were given to women due to the shortage of men. Businesses were surprised to see women were matching men in the workplace!

Informal kickabouts after work or at weekends became a popular pastime for the women and this was not missed by factory management. An activity that was previously considered unsuitable for the "delicate female frame" was heartily encouraged as good for health, well-being and team morale within larger factories.

As the war progressed, the women's game became more formalised, with football teams emerging from the munitions factories. Initially, the novelty of women playing football was used to raise money for war charities, with crowds flocking to see the so-called "munitionettes" take on teams of injured soldiers and women from other factories. As popularity grew, fans started to appear to watch these women.

With the war now over, factories started to close and women, (and spectators), who had been woken up to the sport, found themselves being quietly shunted back into a "domestic" life and returned to their "right and proper place" in society.?

Football was no longer a health benefit - it was now seen by top physicians, such as Dr Mary Scharlieb of Harley Street, as the "most unsuitable game, too much for a woman's physical frame".

Dick, Kerr Ladies FC

The most famous female club was Dick, Kerr Ladies FC from Preston. Founded in 1917, their first match drew a crowd of 10,000 people. By 1920, a Boxing Day match against St Helen's Ladies was watched by 53,000 spectators at Goodison Park, with another 14,000 locked outside the ground trying to get in. Within months of this fixture, the ban was imposed.

Despite the ban, a few female teams continued for a while. In 1937 the Dick, Kerr Ladies played Edinburgh City Girls in the Championship of Great Britain and the World, winning 5-1. Lily Parr became one of the greatest scorers in English history, netting more than 1,000 goals during a 31-year career. However, the women's game soon became overshadowed by the return and growth of the male game.

1971 Ban lifted

In 1971 the FA finally lifted the ban on women's football. In the same year, UEFA recommended the women's game should be taken under the control of the national associations in each country. This move signalled the start of a female football revival, not only in Britain but across Europe and the rest of the world. It took many years for governance to kick start and the Women’s game to be taken seriously.

It then took a further 20 years for the inaugural World Cup to take place in 1991.

1991 - today

Every year the Women’s game takes a step in the right direction. Women’s and girl's clubs are popping up in every town and city. Examples such as Goal Diggers FC in London and Loughborough Foxes WFC are trailblazers.

The FA have finally seen the error of their ways and have put Women’s and girl’s football as a key strategic focus. Programmes such as Weetabix Wildcats, is a girls-only program to get more young girls playing the sport in a fun and engaging way.

The next 50 years

The male game has its obvious flaws, hooligans, tribalism, racism and alcohol-driven poor behaviour etc. The women's game has the opportunity to create a safe and fun environment for families to watch the elite women's game. I'm predicting as the women's game grows, sponsors that are family-friendly will prefer the association to this game over the men's game. Corporate sponsorships are starting to flood in, examples such as P&G Always, Adidas, Nike, Budweiser and Lucozade Sport all showed support for a gender-equal sporting future

Role models such as Fleur Cousens, Chair of Goal Diggers FC, and Steve Wilkinson Chair of Loughborough Foxes WFC have set the standard for my girls and future generations. I hope they will never take for granted a kick about with their friends. 50 years from now we hope that the women's game has the same level of funding and focus as the men's game.

Is tonight the start of that?