Farrer & Co Women in Sport - Report - Page 3
Foreword
Welcome to “Women In Sport –
Levelling the playing field”
Julian Pike
Partner,
Farrer & Co
Farrer & Co
On Boxing Day 1920, 53,000 spectators at Everton’s
Goodison Park watched Dick Kerr Ladies FC (from Preston)
play St Helen’s Ladies. In 1921, the Football Association
(The FA) decided the game was unsuitable for women,
instituting a ban that held until 1971.
While legal restrictions on female participation in
sport still remain in place in some countries, almost one
hundred years later, we are potentially on the cusp of a
quiet revolution. As we look back at this present period, it
is hopefully likely that 2019 will be seen as one of the key
years in which the movement towards greater equality and
inclusion witnessed a significant gear change, the leading
event, of course, being FIFA’s Women’s World Cup.
London 2012 saw for the first time at an Olympic
Games, mass media exposure to Paralympians and their
extraordinary feats of athleticism. In recognising their
super-human achievements, we acknowledged the power
and richness of watching the elite athletic endeavours of
diversely skilled and challenged athletes. The 2012 Games
undoubtedly will be seen – if they are not already seen – as
a catalyst for change which recognised sporting diversity
and inclusion.
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