The forgotten Women's World Cup

Sporting Witness

In August 1971, a group of footballers were catapulted from obscurity to overnight stardom in Mexico when record-breaking crowds turned out as the country hosted a forerunner of the women’s World Cup.

With women’s football still in its infancy after being suppressed in many parts of the world for decades, players got a taste of the sport’s potential popularity when they appeared in front of 100,000 fans in Mexico’s biggest grounds.

One of the English team, Trudy McCaffery, tells Ian Youngs what it was like to go from playing in empty parks to the packed Azteca Stadium – and back.

(Photo: Trudy McCaffery with scrapbox. Credit: Trudy McCaffery)