They had so many Tyneside players to choose from that a trial match had to be held the Possibles versus the Probables. According to Mr Brennan, it was the organisers of this contest that hit upon the idea of putting on an international women’s match. Known as the Munitionettes Cup, the competition was open to any women's team in the Tyneside area. “There was no Northern Ireland then, it was all one country so the name of the Irish team suggests that the players were all from Belfast and surrounding districts”, he said.įootball had been encouraged among women working in munitions factories to counter the unhealthy working conditions and by 1917 there were enough teams in the North East of England for a tournament. Now called Lisburn Distillery Football Club, its secretary Colin Hopkins said the two women’s teams that they hosted in 1917 were named the North of Ireland Ladies and the Tyneside Ladies. The match was played at Grosvenor Park in Belfast, which was home to the Distillery football team.
"Great excitement was first raised when the Irish front rank came along in great style and narrowly failed to score", said The Belfast Telegraph. The Lord Mayor of Belfast kicked off the match which, as was common for the time, was held in aid of war charities. Mr Brennan has unearthed newspapers from the time which describe the match as “international” and report that it attracted 20,000 spectators. Patrick Brennan, author of The Munitionettes, said “matches prior to the 1917 Boxing Day game were played between teams in the same general locality”. Nevertheless it was the highest level women’s match to date.
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