105 years on from the ban that saw women prohibited from playing football under the rule of The FA, the same ground that hosted the historic Dick Kerr Ladies fixture will now become the home of the Everton Women.
Following the relocation of the Everton men’s team at the close of the Premier League season, the club have confirmed that the historic and iconic Goodison Park will henceforth become the home of the Everton Women. Not only is it good news for every Evertonian who will still be able to visit the historic stands, it paints a perfect picture of the formidable journey that women’s football has undergone over a century.
Not only is Goodison Park the first purpose-built English football stadium, it was also the ground that hosted the fixture between Kerr Ladies and St. Helens Ladies that subsequently resulted in The FA’s decision to blanket-ban females from participating in football.
On 27 December 1920, Goodison Park played host to one of the landmark events in women’s football: a match between the pioneering Dick, Kerr Ladies and St. Helens Ladies, witnessed by a crowd of more than 45,000 people, with thousands more locked outside. The Dick, Kerr team – made up of munitions factory workers from the North West – were the most famous and successful women’s team of their era. They boasted in their ranks the likes of Lily Parr, widely considered one of the greatest women’s players of her era and known for her powerful shooting, Alice Kell, the first captain of the side and prolific captain Florrie Redford. Their Boxing Day fixture at Goodison remains one of the largest-ever attendances
for a women’s club match in England.
The Lord Mayor of Liverpool was amongst those from across Merseyside flocking to the home of Everton Football Club to watch the women in action. Such was the interest that a police escort was required to help the teams get through the crowds of fans on Goodison Road as they made their way into the stadium. £3,100 (worth £130,000 in 2025) was raised
for servicemen’s benevolent funds.
The above recount was gracefully told by Everton Football Club when announcing the news of Goodison’s revival. All seemed positive for women’s football in England, before a hammer from above crushed the dreams of a nation.
Months on from Dick Kerr Ladies’ 4-0 victory at Goodison Park, the football association released a ruling that banned women from playing on FA affiliated pitches for 50 years.
Everton’s decision to continue the legacy of Goodison Park as a home for their growing women’s team is one that is laced with pride and heart through the lens of history.
