MK Lit Fest Autumn Festival: Carrie Dunn – The Rise of the Lionesses

As World Cup finalists and Euro 22 Champions, England’s Lionesses are now on the front and back pages, on prime-time TV, and in the national honours lists for their contribution to their sport and to society. Today they are top athletes – and top celebrities – but in 1921 the Football Association banned women’s football, pronouncing it ‘quite unsuitable for females’. That ban lasted fifty years.

Now, leading sports writer Carrie Dunn shines a light on the evolution of women’s football and its extraordinary rise. Carrie discusses the subversive women who defied the restrictions and laid the foundations for today’s Lionesses – and the obstacles that today’s players and the next generation of girls still need to overcome. Her special access to key players, on and off the pitch, gives her a unique insight into the massively popular sport at this crucial moment in its history.