The story of women’s football is often framed as a battle fought and won in England, with names like Lily Parr and Dick, Kerr Ladies rightly etched into history. But across the border, in the heart of Scotland, another team was making waves, one that dared to challenge the best, defy a ban that crippled the English game, and momentarily claim the title of “World Champions”. Their name?
Rutherglen Ladies Football Club.
Rutherglen Ladies were not just another team playing for fun or charity, as many viewed women’s football at the time. They were competitors – bold, fearless, and determined to prove that the women’s game was not a sideshow but a legitimate sporting spectacle. Formed in 1921, they emerged at a critical time, just as women’s football in England was being forcibly shut down. When the English FA banned women from playing on FA-affiliated grounds, claiming the sport was “unsuitable for females,” it sent shockwaves through the game. Crowds of 50,000+ had been turning out to watch women’s matches, and the sport was growing at an unprecedented rate. The FA’s ruling stopped that progress dead.
But Scotland? Scotland did not follow suit.
While the ban crushed momentum in England, Scottish women’s teams, including Rutherglen Ladies, kept playing. They continued to draw crowds, raising money for charity and proving that the ban had nothing to do with player welfare, it was about control. The FA may have shut women out in England, but Rutherglen Ladies ensured that football was still being played at a high level north of the border.
Then came September 1923, when they made their boldest statement yet.
At Shawfield Park, Rutherglen took on the Dick, Kerr Ladies (the team widely recognised as the best in the world at the time). The fixture was meant to be a showcase of talent, an entertaining match between two of the strongest women’s teams in Britain. But what happened next was historic.
Rutherglen won 2-0.
It was a stunning victory against a team that had dominated women’s football for years. So, in true footballing fashion, they did what any team would do after such a win: they declared themselves “World Champions.” Manager James H. Kelly made the claim, and in that moment, Rutherglen Ladies staked their place in history.
It’s a title that was never officially recognised, of course. But in an era where women’s football was constantly undermined and ridiculed, Rutherglen’s victory over the biggest name in the sport was more than just a scoreline. It was a statement. A challenge to those who said women couldn’t or shouldn’t play. A moment that should have cemented their legacy alongside the pioneers of the game.
Yet, like so many stories of women’s football, their success wasn’t enough to keep them in the spotlight. Though they continued to tour, including a visit to Ireland in 1927, and their captain Sadie Smith remained a respected figure in Scottish football, their achievements were quickly buried under decades of neglect. By the time the club disbanded in 1939, the FA’s ban had already stifled women’s football across Britain, and the sport had been pushed into obscurity.
And so, Rutherglen Ladies faded. Their name all but disappeared from history books. Their title of World Champions became little more than a forgotten anecdote. While England’s fight for women’s football slowly regained ground in the 1970s and beyond, Rutherglen’s contribution was largely left behind.
But their impact? That cannot be erased.
They proved that the women’s game was real, competitive, and worthy of attention. They challenged the best and won. They kept football alive at a time when the men in charge wanted it to die. Their story matters because it challenges the narrative that women’s football was never taken seriously until recently. It shows that the fight for recognition has been going on for over a century and that pioneers like Rutherglen Ladies deserve to be remembered as much as any of the sport’s modern-day stars.
The modern game stands on their shoulders. And it’s about time we said their name.
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