AN event to mark a historic women’s football match was blasted for failing to include any women.
A plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first women’s team match between Scotland and England was presented to a group of men on the site of the trail-blazing game.
Greenock Juniors FC – who play at Ravenscraig Stadium, where the game was played in 1972 – have insisted they were not involved in organising the event and senior figures within the club claim to have raised concerns about the lack of female representation.
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Social media users were outraged after the club posted pictures of the plaque presentation on Friday, made by Paul McNeil of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) to Greenock Juniors chairman Tommy Sutherland.
Football history was made today earlier at Ravenscraig. It is almost 50 years since the first woman’s full international between Scotland and England was played at the stadium. pic.twitter.com/p4Odo7kdnV
— Greenock Juniors FC (@GREENOCKJFC) February 11, 2022
One Twitter user responded to the pictures claiming the lack of female representation was “a great example of the blind male privilege”.
She added: “So many amazing women that could have been in these photos to celebrate this history. There is no excuses here, just lack of equality. Time to wake up.”
Another said: “It’s great that the historic occasion is being rightfully recognised.
“But it would have been good to have had some local girls or woman footballers involved in the photo op.”
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And one added: “This picture shows how far we still have to come. That no-one in the thought ‘lads, it’s not about us’ is poor but not surprising.”
Club chairman Sutherland told The National the event was “thrown together in a matter of days” and admitted the lack of women present was “not a good look”.
I adore the folk in this pic, but it’s a great example of the blind male privilege. So many amazing women that could have been in these photos to celebrate this history. There is no excuses here, just lack of equality. Time to wake up.
— Marion Morrison (@marionmcoaching) February 12, 2022
He added: “I did talk about there being no representation of women there.
“All I can say in defence of everyone else there is they did say they were going to try and get somebody down when it comes to being unveiled.
“It wasn’t our call to have the people there – I was going down to represent the club and I really didn’t have any idea who was going to be turning up.”
Paul Brown, the club secretary was not present at the event but said: “We were concerned about there being no women present.”
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The event was also attended by SNP MSP Stuart McMillan and Inverclyde councillor Tommy McVey. Both were approached for comment.
The event was organised by the SFA, The National understands but the organisation could not explain why women had been excluded.
The plaque commemorates the first time England and Scotland’s women’s teams faced off.
Rose Reilly, one of the most celebrated women to play football in Scotland, was part of the team beaten by England 3-2 on the day.
An SFA spokesman said: "The Scottish FA has plans to officially mark the 50th anniversary of the match, which was played in November 1972, closer to the actual anniversary date later this year."
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