Claire Lacey

Born: 12 June 1975, London
Position: Goalkeeper
Debut: Portugal (A) 11 February 1996
Occupation: Housing officer (1996)

In a departure for Women’s Football Archive, we give yesteryear a swerve and profile a current player still doing the business at a high level: Claire Lacey of C&K Basildon Ladies.

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Football history buffs of the world, unite!

Maggie Pearce keeps an eye on Pia Sundhage in the Euro 1984 final

AUTHORITATIVE football stats site RSSSF.com has published a list of the oldest and youngest players to play and score for their countries.

Now the number crunchers behind the prestigious list, stattos of international repute, need your help to properly credit the women who should be on there.
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Goalkeeper blog: So Terry Wiseman was no Hope Solo…

…But without the Terrys there’d be no Hopes!

Or, Standing on the shoulders of giants

LOOK at this video from the Women’s Euro 1984 final. MovementSoccer deserves thanks for posting it – as well as the whole final it came from – on YouTube here.
Continue reading “Goalkeeper blog: So Terry Wiseman was no Hope Solo…”

Match: Sweden 1–0 England, 12 May 1984, Ullevi (part 2)

Ullevi 12 May 1984 – Sweden 1–0 England

Pia Sundhage’s header beats England in first leg of Euro 84 final

Classic match report: Martin Reagan’s brave England stay in touch for second leg in Luton

Part two in a two-part series: profiling England’s classic Euro 1984 final defeat by Sweden. England won through to the inaugural continental showpiece by beating the Danes over two-legs in the semi-final. Opposition then awaited England in the shape of formidable Sweden and star centre-forward Pia Sundhage. Playing 35 minutes each-way with a size four ball, the sides met in front of a record crowd at Sweden’s national stadium, the Ullevi in Gothenburg. England’s gutsy 1–0 defeat left things delicately poised for the return match in Luton two weeks later.

Continue reading “Match: Sweden 1–0 England, 12 May 1984, Ullevi (part 2)”

Match: Sweden 1–0 England, 12 May 1984, Ullevi

Ullevi 12 May 1984 – Sweden 1–0 England

Pia Sundhage’s header beats England in first leg of Euro 84 final

Classic match report: Martin Reagan’s brave England stay in touch for second leg in Luton

Part one in a two-part series: profiling England’s classic Euro 1984 final defeat by Sweden. England won through to the inaugural continental showpiece by beating the Danes over two-legs in the semi-final. Opposition then awaited England in the shape of formidable Sweden and star centre-forward Pia Sundhage. Playing 35 minutes each-way with a size four ball, the sides met in front of a record crowd at Sweden’s national stadium, the Ullevi in Gothenburg. England’s gutsy 1–0 defeat left things delicately poised for the return match in Luton two weeks later.

Continue reading “Match: Sweden 1–0 England, 12 May 1984, Ullevi”

Player: Sue Buckett

Sue Buckett: England’s original goalkeeper

Embed from Getty Images

Born: c.1946, Portsmouth
Position: Goalkeeper
Debut: Scotland (A) 18 November 1972
Occupation: Clerical supervisor (1972), Senior project engineer (1992)

Sue Buckett is an English football great. As England women’s first ever goalkeeper she won 30 caps in a 12-year international career which took her all over Europe. In a brilliant club career with Southampton, she played in 11 WFA Cup finals and won eight of them. Those who saw her play describe a calm and unshowy presence, who made acrobatic saves and plucked crosses out of the air with minimum fuss.

Most of the following info about Buckett’s achievements comes from the indispensable works of her former team mates, Sue Lopez (Women on the Ball, 1997) and Wendy Owen (Kicking Against Tradition, 2005)…

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Administrator: Roger Ebben

Roger Ebben

Picture courtesy of [http://pullingworld.blogspot.co.uk/ Pulling World] — Picture courtesy of Pulling World

Born: 1947, Southampton
Position: Press and media officer
Debut: N/A
Occupation: Restauranteur (1983), Jewellery shop proprietor (2008)

Roger Ebben: WFA PR Guru

Of all the challenges facing the newly-formed WFA in 1969, the issue of media coverage was perhaps the most pressing. As the first England boss Eric Worthington put it on taking charge in 1972: “the thought came to me that perhaps what the Association needed most of all was a full time publicity manager rather than a team manager!”

Of course England did have a press officer, in the shape of Ebben. He was young, bright and keen, but was purely voluntary, as were the other officers at that time.

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Official: Rangers better than Celtic

Fact stranger than fiction in the topsy-turvy world of women’s football

When Celtic face Rangers in the new year, the only thing in question will be the margin of The Hoops’ victory. Right? Well, yes. But also no. Over in the women’s game Celtic are starting from scratch after an exodus of top players, while ever-improving Rangers look to build from a position of strength.

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Player: Linda Coffin

Linda Coffin

Born: c.1955, Portsmouth
Position: Centre-back
Debut: Wales (H) 22 May 1976
Occupation: Section manager (1976), Chargehand (1982)

Linda “The Rock” Coffin: One of England’s finest ever defenders, who backstopped the great Southampton WFC team of her era to four WFA Cup wins.

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Administrator: Linda Whitehead

Linda Whitehead

Linda Whitehead: A lifetime’s dedication to women’s football in England

The smiling public face of the Women’s Football Association from 1980 to 1993, who later served Millwall Lionesses and Arsenal Ladies with distinction. Whitehead is a diligent and well-regarded sports administrator. With her contribution stretching across four decades, icon Whitehead is often hailed the greatest living authority on English women’s football.

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