Quite Unfit for Females

A light-hearted newsreel item on the Football Association's proposed ban on women's football in 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.