In the early twentieth century, an insatiable enthusiasm for women’s football swept across the UK. After the outbreak of WW1, women often began engaging in the game to raise money for charities that supported injured soldiers and their families, but the true extent of its success was entirely unforeseen. Crowds came in their droves to see teams play, with some of the most popular games in London and the North of England recording upwards of 50,000 attendants.

This sparkling reception, however, was not echoed in the upper echelons of the English Football Association, and indeed society, and the early prosperity of women’s football was not to last. Why? It was quite unbecoming for a woman, they scoffed, and besides, it was taking away the spotlight from the male game. By the time 1921 rolled around, the Association made a decision to ban women from playing on their grounds, citing in a simple statement that “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged”. Are you frustrated yet?

It wasn’t until the late 1960s that a Women’s Football Association was formed, and only in 1993 did the FA recognise it again with an official Women’s Football Committee. As a result, the society we live in has very much grown into one that sees football – and football culture – as a man’s sport, because that’s what we’ve been fed. It’s exactly this misconception that photographer and footballer Flora Maclean is rallying to change.