Lizzie Ashcroft football medal for playing with Dick Kerr Ladies at The Vetch, Swansea 1931

Information from Steve Bolton

‘‘Lizzy Ashcroft was an international footballer in the 1920s and 1930s. She made her debut for St Helen's Ladies in 1921 in front of a crowd of 30,000 at St Andrews, the home of Birmingham City Football Club. In 1923, two years after the infamous English FA women's football ban St Helens thrashed the Dick Kerr Ladies by 5 v 1 in their last ever game. 10 days later Lizzy was recruited to the Dick Kerr Ladies and joined her lifelong friend, the famous Lily Parr.

The late 1920s were a very difficult period for women's football in Britain and it wasn't until the 1930s that the famous Dick Kerr Ladies got going again with International tours. They played in Wales many, many times in the 1930s with perhaps the highlight being in 1933 when they defeated Lovells Toffee Ladies FC of Newport by 6 v 0 at Tredegar Fete in front of a reputed crowd of 14,000. The following year they again played at Tredegar in front of 6,000 defeating the mighty Belgian National team by 3 v 1.

One of the most important tours of the 1930s was during the August bank holiday in 1931 when games were played on Monday 3rd at The Vetch and Tuesday 4th at Stebonheath Park, Llanelli. I was contacted recently by a distant relative with the most amazing find. In an old biscuit tin, passed down through the family was a beautiful Dick Kerr Ladies silver medal from the game at The Vetch, with my granny’s name on it: E. Ashcroft. These medals are incredibly rare - there are a handful of this sort of medal issued in 1918 with one in the FIFA museum and one in the English National Football Museum in Manchester but the fact that medals were issued in 1931 was previously unknown.

The game was billed as Preston Ladies (late Dick Kerr’s AFC World Champions) vs Rest of England. Dick Kerr’s with famous names such as Lizzy Ashcroft, Jenny Harris and Lily Parr won by 10 v 3. The organiser of the game was veteran Cardiff City Ladies and Swansea Ladies goalkeeper, Edith Lamprey. Edith was given the honour of playing in goals for the famous English team and was therefore the recipient of a similar silver medal. The game was watched by 7,000 spectators who were also entertained by the Band of Boys of Nazareth House, Sketty. After the match the teams were entertained to dinner at the Royal Hotel by the Mayor and Mayoress of Swansea and the Mayor of Llanelli. A substantial sum of money was raised for the British Legion Women’s Section.

References:
South Wales Daily Post Tuesday 28 July 1931 p1 - Advert for the game
South Wales Daily Post Monday 3 August 1931 p1 - Photo of the Dick Kerr Ladies in Swansea
South Wales Evening Post Friday 7 August 1931 p9 - Nazareth House Boys Band
South Wales Daily Post Tuesday 4 August 1931 p1 - Match report including Edith Lamprey organiser
South Wales Evening Post Tuesday 21 July 1931 p10 - Attractive match forecast for Vetch
South Wales Evening Post Wednesday 22 July 1931 p9 - Dick Kerr Ladies compared to men’s teams
South Wales Evening Post Friday 24 July 1931 p9 - Mr E. C. Sambrook to referee the match
South Wales Daily Post Tuesday 28 July p1 - Dick Kerr Ladies capable of beating some men’s teams
South Wales Daily Post Friday 31 July p3 - Match to be principal Bank Holiday attraction in Swansea
Lancashire Evening Post Monday 10 August 1931 p7 - Preston team still defeating all opponents
Llanelli Star Saturday 1 August 1931 p6 - Advert for the game
South Wales Daily Post Wednesday 5 August 1931 p3 - Llanelli match report confirming 6,000 crowd