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<\/p>\nThe England women\u2019s national football team pose before the Scotland match in 1972<\/p>\n
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England take on Scotland tonight almost 50 years since the two sides contested the first ever official international women\u2019s match in Great Britain.<\/p>\n
An FA ban in December 1921 meant the women\u2019s game was limited to public parks only, but in 1972 Sheila Parker led her side to a 3-2 victory in an Auld Enemy clash as the Lionesses\u2019 first ever captain.<\/p>\n
In 2022, several members of the trailblazing England side who took to the field that day were finally awarded their official caps when they met with the current squad before a friendly against the US.<\/p>\n
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Sheila Parker was inducted into the England Football Hall of Fame in 2013, and has previously spoken about her playing days and delight at the success of the current team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an honour. I enjoyed it so much.\u201d Parker told ITV Granada last month. \u201cIt\u2019s good to know I helped to start it.”<\/p>\n
Fifty years on, and another Parker is now also at the beginning of her own footballing journey, with Sheila\u2019s granddaughter Chloe progressing into the senior team of Fleetwood Town Wrens Ladies this season.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old says she didn\u2019t realise how significant her grandmother was in the history of the women\u2019s game when she herself started playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually started in a primary school team and there weren\u2019t many of us, so we were playing seven a side, and at first I didn\u2019t even know the story that my nan has,\u201d she told the Independent<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was only when we started the first girls\u2019 junior team for Fleetwood Town that I found out, because she came down to visit us and met the whole team.\u201d<\/p>\n Having stayed with Fleetwood\u2019s junior side up until this season, the young winger has now made the step up into senior football.<\/p>\n With grassroots girls\u2019 clubs struggling at present, as highlighted by a recent report on Sky News, and some teams choosing not to have development sides, the pathway for girls trying to progress through the game isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n Chloe Parker says that the Wrens, however, offer a clear pathway and a good chance for young players to build up through the levels. \u201cThere\u2019s not always that chance to build up to the first team, which is why it\u2019s good that the Wrens give you that chance no matter what, so you can gradually work towards it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s obviously a big step up from juniors to women\u2019s open age. This is more competitive, but it\u2019s been really fun and enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n With the Lionesses\u2019 success inspiring so many in the last few years, Chloe says she is already seeing changes with the younger generation coming through, despite only being 18 herself.<\/p>\n \u201cEven from when I started, we were the first ever junior girls team for Fleetwood Town, and now there\u2019s a whole local league going on. With all the spectators in the higher levels of football, it\u2019s popular here and more people are talking about it.<\/p>\n \u201cChances are becoming better, there\u2019s more possibility. The more it\u2019s on the telly, the more girls will be able to watch it and see role models, which means more people will want to take that shot and step into football.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was younger, we didn\u2019t really have that, it was on telly but not as much.\u201d<\/p>\n The growth of women\u2019s football since Sheila Parker led her side out in the tiny Ravenscraig Stadium in Greenock, Scotland, has been enormous.<\/p>\n \u201cMy grandma had a conversation and it was obviously mind blowing that the Lionesses got a chance to even play in a World Cup after everything she\u2019s been through\u201d, Chloe said.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was just happy for them as a team. That they\u2019ve been able to play in front of that many people in a final and experienced what they have in getting to the final is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Chloe has ambitions herself, and says she has always dreamed of playing for WSL side Liverpool, but is currently continuing her education by studying sports therapy while trying to develop as a player.<\/p>\n She is clearly no stranger to the fact that in 1975 her grandmother scored 51 goals in 14 games for Preston, despite being a defender. \u201cYeah she was good at heading the ball wasn\u2019t she! I\u2019ve heard those stories before.\u201d<\/p>\n The grandmother and granddaughter will both be watching the game tonight, a link from past to present and a reminder of how far the game has come.<\/p>\nRecommended<\/h3>\n
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