Manchester Corinthians: Formalising Football | OneFootball

Continuing our series on the pioneering Manchester Corinthians women’s team, today Gary James talks about the Corinthians during the 1970s and 1980s.

The 1970s saw women’s football in Manchester grow at a rapid rate. Teams sprung up across the entire region with work teams, community teams and teams created by friends established.

There was league and cup competitions, such as the Three Counties League where both Gladys and George Aikin had played leading roles. Gladys and George Aikin were prominent members of the Corinthians, both managing the club and playing their part in ensuring the team survived and existed.

They had both been committee members at the Women’s FA, as well as with the Three Counties League.

George managed the Corinthians from about 1974 through to the 1980s and under his watch the club won regional competitions, helping girls and young women find their team and play in a competitive environment.

"George had been involved with the Corinthians for around a decade, and he was certainly running it when I started playing,’ says City fan Lesley Wright.

"I joined when I was 14 or so. When I was a ten-year-old I wanted to play football, but society thought it was wrong for some reason. Now a ten-year-old girl can see that she has a chance. There are role models… clubs to play for… you can get paid to play and so it can be a career… You can dream of lifting the FA Cup at Wembley – it’s possible now!

"You can go on the internet now and do a search 'women’s football Stockport' and you’ll find teams. For me it was different. If I hadn’t spoken with Val Hall in our school canteen and she said she had football training, I would never have known. It was chance. How did girls get to play football?

"Even if there was something in a newspaper the chances are it wouldn’t be a local team and it was usually a story with a negative angle or a 'let’s look at her, the girl who plays football.' You had to physically write to the Women’s FA – but you may not have known that existed – and hope they send you details.

"There were a lot of older women there when I joined the Corinthians. They’d been playing a long time. We used to play teams like Macclesfield Town, Fodens… There were some big businesses that had great sports facilities and so they were always good to play at. Some of these places had sports and social committees which enabled women’s teams to be developed."

During her time with the Corinthians, the club faced a number of struggles and found some significant success. There were times when they struggled to field a full team and a pitch of a suitable quality, but thanks to the endeavour of those involved, the club survived.

The last significant success of the Corinthians came in 1989 when they won the Three Counties League for the final time.

Like many of those involved with the Corinthians, Lesley Wright is an important figure within the development of women’s football locally. As well as playing for the Corinthians for over a decade, she was a member of Manchester City’s first women’s team. She joined City during the club’s inaugural season of 1988-89, initially playing friendlies for City and competitive games for the Corinthians.

In 1989-90 City joined the North West Women’s Regional Football League and Lesley went with several other Corinthians to play for City in that. She played her part in City’s development into the 2000s.

Her involvement in women’s football didn’t end there and even today she promotes the sport in roles with Stockport County Ladies and the Cheshire FA. She is also a key player with Droylsden Women’s Walking Football Club - leading them to major success - and has captained EWFC now EWF (England’s) over 60s women’s walking football international team.

Lesley’s ongoing involvement with football demonstrates that the Corinthians’ influence continues almost eighty years after the club was established. Like so many Mancunian women, her contribution to the development of football needs celebrating. As well as being a City season ticket holder, Lesley also works for the club on a casual basis.

Around fifty years after her involvement with the Manchester Corinthians began, her love of the game remains. Lesley’s story is of great interest and is documented in my book Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History.

Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History is available from all usual book retailers and can be ordered direct from Gary at: https://gjfootballarchive.com/order-manchester-corinthians-book/