Helen Matthews

Helen Graham Matthews, also known by her pseudonym Mrs Graham (born 1857/8),[1] was a Scottish suffragette and women's footballer. She is known for founding the Mrs Graham's XI, widely considered to be the first women's football team anywhere in the world.

Helen Matthews
Scottish suffragette and women's footballer Helen Graham Matthews in 1895
Born	Helen Graham Matthews 1857/8 Montrose, Angus, Scotland
Died	Unknown
Nationality	Scottish
Occupation	Footballer
Years active	1881–?

Personal life

Matthews was born in Montrose, Angus, Scotland.[1]

Career

In 1881, Matthews decided to set up a women's Scottish national team, after watching an all-male match between Scotland and England at the Oval, London, which Scotland won 6-1.[2] She used the pseudonym Mrs Graham and named the team Mrs Graham's XI. The first record of the team coming together to play football occurred on 9 May 1881, at Edinburgh's Easter Road Stadium. The match was billed as a Scotland v England international, and Matthews played as a goalkeeper.[1][3][4] After women's football was banned in Scotland, Matthews and Nettie Honeyball formed The Lady Footballer team in England.[1][5][6] Matthews left The Lady Footballer in 1896, and in the same year, she took Mrs Graham's XI to play against Scottish men's teams.[2][7] In the first match of the tour against Irvine, Matthews sustained a black eye, but continued playing.[7] Matthews only revealed her true identity in 1900.[1]

See also

• Emma Clarke
• Women's association football
• Dick, Kerr's Ladies F.C.

References

1. "Secret history of women's football reveals how riots during Auld Enemy clash led to Scotland banning the developing game". Daily Record. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
2. "Scotland England Match results". 12 March 1881. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
3. Tate, Tim (2013). Girls With Balls: The Secret History of Women's Football. John Blake. ISBN 1782196862.
4. Domeneghetti, R. (2014) From the Back Page to the Front Room: Football's journey through the English media page 155 Ockley Books. ISBN 1783015586 Retrieved February 2015
5. Tomlinson, A. (2010) A Dictionary of Sports Studies page 490 Oxford University Press. ISBN 019921381X Retrieved February 2015
6. Rowley, Christopher (10 September 2015). The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 215. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
7. Lee, James (13 September 2013). The Lady Footballers: Struggling to Play in Victorian Britain. Routledge. pp. 85–88. Retrieved 5 May 2017.

Further reading

• Grainey, Timothy (2012), Beyond Bend It Like Beckham: The Global Phenomenon of Women's Soccer, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0803240368
• Lee, James (2013). The Lady Footballers: Struggling to Play in Victorian Britain, Routledge, ISBN 0-4154-2609-X
• Lopez, Sue (1997). Women on the ball: a guide to women's football, Scarlet Press, ISBN 1857270169
• Williams, Jean (2007). A Beautiful Game: International Perspectives on Women's Football, Apex Publishing LLC, ISBN 1847883451