‘He saw the injustice’: how Arthur Hobbs fought for women’s football

An under-16 tournament in Kent will celebrate ‘fearless’ man who co-founded the Women’s FA and fought to end playing ban

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Many issues with women’s football development come from the notion that the sport was, for decades, considered incompatible with girls and women. In the UK, the Football Association banned women from any affiliated grounds in 1921, stating that the game was “quite unsuitable for females”. Other federations then followed with similar claims, and women’s football was affected in countries such as France, Spain, Germany, Nigeria and Brazil.

Younger generations of players can learn a lot from those who fought for the right to play, and learning this history is important if we are to avoid repeating it. In the Kent town of Deal on Saturday, a tournament will honour the founder of the Women’s Football Association. About 270 girls in under-16 teams will play in the first Arthur Henry Hobbs tournament at the Goodwin Academy.

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