Stef Hemmings has been a keen footballer for as long as she can remember, and through a photo found in her father’s belongings she discovered a family love of the sport that goes back almost a century.
After the death of her father last year, Stef discovered a copy of a photo showing a women’s football team in Ettington dated 14th May 1937. One of the players in the line-up was her nanny, Winifred.
At the time, Stef’s grandparents lived in Ettington and she played football during the 1930s. The photo shows the team on the day of a charity match that took place to coincide with the coronation of King George VI.
Winfred is wearing dungarees rather than shorts in the photo as Stef said according to her dad she believed it wasn’t right to show her knees.
“I played football all my life. I had the opportunity when I was growing up because I lived in Warwick and there was a great youth club with a good leader.
“I was born with my feet kicking, apparently – the midwife said ‘she’s going to be a footballer’, which I was.
“I always wanted to be a professional footballer, but sadly those chances weren’t available when I was younger.”
Stef was just 18 when Winifred died, and during her life Stef spent many years playing football at youth club level and then for Southam Town FC.
“I find it bizarre that my nanny never talked to me about football, or she never told me about her footballing days. All I was interested in was kicking a ball.
“My grampy was interested in my football and I can remember times of going out into the garden and him teaching me skills and how to head the ball properly.
“I can remember my nanny was always in the kitchen and he would always go in and speak to her and tell her exactly what I’d done. That was her connection to my football.
“Rather than talking to me about it, looking back now, I feel it was through grampy because football was still seen as a boy thing because that was in the seventies and eighties.
“I was dragging my grampy outside in the garden to play football for two hours. I don’t know how he did it, but he did.”
Stef had stopped playing football around 25 years ago due to issues with her knees, but has since got back into the game through Alcester Town Walking Football’s women’s team.
“I feel like my nanny is with me every week when I play. It’s lovely to be kicking a ball around again,” Stef said.
At the time when the photo was taken, women’s football was banned from being played at professional grounds and pitches of clubs affiliated to the FA, with the association stating “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.”
This ban was in place from 1921 to 1971 but despite being forced to play only in public parks and away from the large stadiums, the women’s game remained popular and it is matches such as the one Winifred was involved in which kept the sport alive.
Stef is very proud of the role played by her nanny and other women at the time for making sure women still played football despite the national ban.
“My nanny was quite an unassuming lady. She was always willing to help people but she was very shy about what she did and never really liked the attention on her.
“She was such a lovely lady and I feel very proud that she actually did something because she was good at it and because she wanted to. And I think ‘good on them for doing that’.
“That’s paved the way for us now, with the lionesses and being able to go and watch Aston Villa women, it’s a proper weekend event now.
“That’s because of my nanny and all the ladies that played football. That’s our strength.”
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Author: The Walking Football
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