Let’s find 500 photos of women’s football history in New Zealand!
Share your story here (no log in required)
Upload your photos here (Google log in required)
Or you can email your photos and story to me at HerStory@alidashanks.com
In the lead up to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the NZ host cities wanted 500 photos of the history of women’s football. Unfortunately there are barely any photos! So I’m on a mission to connect with people who have been involved in women’s football in NZ. I am looking for stories and photos of those who played, coached or refereed women’s football, or were involved in the administration running women’s football from the 1900s through to today. In particular, I’d love to talk with anyone who was involved in the national and regional women’s football associations that started in the 1970s until they were dissolved in 2000. This might be you, your parents, an aunt or uncle, or your grandparents!
If you have any information or would like to chat, please get in touch!
Women have been playing football in Aotearoa NZ since the 1800s. However, with the ban by the English FA in 1921 to try and stop women from playing football also reaching NZ, there are very few records of women’s football. It wasn’t until the 1970s that women’s football started to be recognised again. The NZ Women’s Football Association was established in 1975 by three regional women’s assocations, Canterbury Women’s Football Association, Wellington Women’s FA (both established in 1971) and Northern Women’s FA (established in 1973, changing it’s name to Auckland in 1978). They were joined by other regions, with a total of 18 regional women’s football associations by the 1990s – Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Waikato, and Southland WFA’s were established in 1975, Southland, Marlborough, Otago, South Canterbury and Hawke’s Bay WFA’s were established in 1976, Nelson and Wairarapa WFA’s were established in 1977, Poverty Bay WFA established in 1979, Manawatū WFA established in 1980, West Coast WFA established in 1982, Northland WFA established in 1987, and Whanganui WFA established in 1989.
Sadly, after the women’s football associations were dissolved in 1999, very few records remain. Were you involved in one of these women’s football organisations? I’d love to hear about your experiences with these organisations so we can recognise and celebrate the great work done by our women’s football associations and ensure it is part of the history of women’s sport in NZ.
If you have a story you would like to share, you can either fill in this form here, or you can email me directly at herstory@alidashanks.com.
If you have photos you would like to share, you can either upload them here (although the form does need you to sign in with a Google account), or you can email them to me directly at herstory@alidashanks.com.
If you have any questions, please get in touch!
These photos and stories will go towards a book I am writing on the history of women’s football, with the support of a grant from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. My vision is to bring these stories into the light and properly acknowledge and celebrate the history of women’s football.
I would love to include your story and your photos!
Media
The amazing Zoe George at Stuff did a story on HerStory – check it out here.
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Photo: Aotea Ladies of Wellington playing football in the 1920s. Source: Auckland Weekly News.
Alida Shanks 