In a groundbreaking new documentary by Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine, the concealed origins of women’s football are finally brought into the spotlight in Copa 71, writes Jess Bacon.
Women’s football is one of the fastest growing sports on the planet.
It’s easy to assume the rise in popularity is down to the recent triumphs such as the Lionesses’ win at the Euros in 2022. But would it surprise you that women’s football has actually been around since the early 1900s? Or that there was a women’s World Cup two decades before the first on record in 1991?
In a groundbreaking new documentary by Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine, the concealed origins of women’s football are finally brought into the spotlight in Copa 71, to celebrate the pioneers who played at the 1971 women’s World Cup in Mexico.
With enhanced archive footage and interviews with some of the international players, this 90-minute film is a vital education on the historic sexism in women’s football.
In the first five minutes, American football legend Brandi Chastain is shown a snippet of this game and assumes it’s men playing, as it pre-dates any known women’s football.
Imagine being at the top of your game and discovering there was an entire cohort of women who paved the way for your sport – and you knew nothing about them. Shocked and elated, Chastain asks: “Why didn’t I know about this?”
This pivotal documentary stirs up a host of emotions, both for the players past and present and the viewers. Fury. Disappointment. Pride. Excitement. Shock. Joy.
Though they’re scattered across the world in Denmark, Mexico, Italy, France and England, each of these sportswomen recount similar stories. As children, they would play football in secret, or solo in the street, as boys often wouldn’t let them play.
Football was gendered as a “man’s thing”, even though there were hundreds of women’s football clubs across the country even in the early 1900s.
A common theme in this remarkable story (that was written out of history) is that men in charge at the Football Association (FA) and FIFA were threatened by women’s interest in football.
Women’s football was considered to be “quite unsuitable for females” and “ought not to be encouraged”. Doctors even published scaremongering research that insisted football was a “dangerous” sport for women as it impacted their reproductive organs.
By 1951, the FA introduced its first ban on women’s football in the UK. Overseas, it even became a criminal offence. Former England captain Carol Wilson revealed that she joined the air force in the hopes that she would find a women’s football team.
In the ’60s, the sport came out of the shadows again. Yet, as the documentary explains, the media coverage slated and mocked the sport as a “good joke” that was “erotic and comedic”. That is, except for in Mexico City, 1971.
After the success of the men’s World Cup in 1970, Mexico had the infrastructure to support another large sporting event, and saw a lucrative business opportunity to host the first women’s football World Cup.
FIFA and the FA refused to support or recognise the event as an official World Cup, and banned them from playing in any of their associated stadiums. This meant Copa 71 could only take place in the much larger Azteca Stadium that seated 110,000 people.
The ban had only just lifted in the UK when Wilson’s football coach Harry Batt drove up and down the country to scout out the best players for the England team.
Supported by friends, family and a lucrative sponsor, these young players were transported to a “parallel universe”. In Mexico, the streets were lined with photographers and fans, who were excited to be a part of this historic sporting event.
It’s no doubt when watching this documentary that these women were warriors, and even during the uglier moments of the tournament held the utmost respect and awe for each other.
Italian player Elena Schiavo was considered the “best female footballer” at the time, which her opponents describe as an “unbelievable” player who would unleash “the wrath of God” in every match.
There’s the sense that none of these women comprehended the scope of their momentous achievement, as they were simply in awe of being able to play the sport that they loved to an enormous, supportive, full stadium.
After the historic event, it seems unfathomable that this energy and excitement surrounding women’s football was squandered again.
Birte Kjems and Ann Stengård, who were on the winning Denmark team, commented that their success was regarded as a threat, and the Danish FA introduced another international ban soon after.
The most heartbreaking element of this documentary is that none of these women ever spoke about this momentous sporting achievement again, or to each other, for 50 years.
Chastain even labels it an “intentional” effort to “hide women’s football” by having no official record of the first women’s World Cup.
To date, the Copa 71 World Cup is the highest attended women’s sporting event in history. Yet, this remarkable achievement is still not recognised by FIFA as a World Cup.
But this is not the final note of the inspired documentary or, at its essence, the true purpose of telling this forgotten story.
Instead, it’s to honour the legacy of those remarkable women who defied social expectations and laws to fight for their right to play football.
As Mexico’s Silvia Zaragoza tells us, keep fighting for what you’re passionate about, as “at the end of the tunnel there is light. Fight for the light.”
COPA 71 is out in UK cinemas now.
Looking for something else to watch? Check out more of our Documentaries coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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