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<\/p>\nA women’s football historian who had a scrapbook repaired on BBC One’s The Repair Shop said it was “the most wonderful experience of my life”.<\/p>\n
Gail Newsham visited the barn with her scrapbook of newspaper cuttings, photographs and letters from 1917, compiled by Alfred Frankland who was manager of the Dick, Kerr Ladies football team.<\/p>\n
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The team got its name from the munitions factory in Preston, Lancashire, where most of the team worked during World War One – and chalked up more than 200 games without defeat.<\/p>\n
“They are the most important team in the history of women’s football,” Gail said. “They weren’t the first, but they were the best.”<\/p>\n
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Book restorer Chris Shaw said repairing the scrapbook was “a fascinating delve into the women’s achievements” [BBC\/Ricochet Ltd]<\/p>\n
Dick, Kerr Ladies was founded at Dick, Kerr & Co. munitions factory in 1917 to raise money for wounded soldiers.<\/p>\n
They raised \u00a3600 in their first game on Christmas Day that year, which took place at Preston North End’s Deepdale ground before 10,000 spectators.<\/p>\n
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Newsham’s unique scrapbook was given to her by former manager Kathleen Latham and charts “the origin of the Dick Kerr’s Ladies”, she told BBC Radio Lancashire<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I was a football lass myself,” she said.<\/p>\n “As soon as I could walk I was kicking a ball about and I grew up in the same streets that they did and somebody had to tell their story before it was too late.”<\/p>\n She said the book was “a unique piece of women’s football history”, but it had got to the point where she was “scared of touching it”.<\/p>\n “I couldn’t pick it up without it falling apart, so consequently it had been stored away in a dark corner so that it didn’t deteriorate all together, so you couldn’t really show it anybody,” she said.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Book restorer Chris Shaw said repairing it was “a fascinating delve into the women’s achievements”.<\/p>\n He worked his magic, making the pages stronger, re-binding them and tooling “Dick, Kerr Ladies” in gold to the leather spine.<\/p>\n The finished scrapbook was “beyond anything I could have imagined”, Gail said.<\/p>\n “I was over the moon, it was the most wonderful experience of my life.<\/p>\n “It’s my favourite show on the telly and to actually go there and be in that barn, it was just magical.”<\/p>\n Dick, Kerr Ladies<\/p>\n Dick, Kerr Ladies were founded at Preston’s Dick, Kerr & Co. munitions factory in 1917 to raise money for wounded soldiers<\/p>\n They were the first women’s team to play wearing shorts and the first to go on an overseas tour<\/p>\n Entertained about 10,000 spectators in the first game on Christmas Day 1917, which took place at Preston North End’s Deepdale ground and raised \u00a3600 for wounded soldiers<\/p>\n Three years later, 53,000 fans watched them play at Everton’s Goodison Park<\/p>\n Went on to record a whole series of firsts for the women’s game, including having the first female manager and taking part in the first women’s international game – a match against a French XI which they won 2-0 in front of 25,000 fans<\/p>\n However, in 1921, the Football Association (FA) banned the women’s game, on the grounds that football was “unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged”<\/p>\n Despite the ban, the side continued to play across the world and played more than 200 games without defeat<\/p>\n They disbanded in 1965, four years before the Women’s Football Association was formed, due to a lack of players<\/p>\n Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds<\/a> and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n More on this storyRelated links![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775982250_6_.gif\"\/)