A Sheffield charity is hosting guided walking tours to celebrate the wealth of contributions made by women towards the city’s footballing history. 

The initiative has been organised by Sheffield Home of Football (SHOF) to coincide with the showing of ‘The Ladies Football Club’ at the Crucible – a play that centres around a group of 11 ‘munitionettes’ and their developing obsession with the game while their husbands are away at war. 

Walks coordinator for the charity, Steve Ingle, 66, explained this is a project he has been eager to start for a while: “We’ve been trying to work out how to do a women’s football club tour, but most of the places are quite disparate around Sheffield.

“The Crucible gave us an anchor from where to lead our walks.”

The walks start at the theatre, which, sitting on the historic site of the Adelphi Hotel, is where members of Sheffield FC met to agree on the club’s rules and regulations over 150 years ago in 1858.

Attendees are then invited to explore various other significant locations around the city centre, before finishing at the ‘Women of Steel’ statue next to the City Hall, erected to honour women’s involvement in the city’s steel industry during both the first and second world wars. 

Building on the work of local football historian Martin Westby, SHOF is a registered charity, whose primary aim is to raise awareness around the rich football heritage found here in Sheffield.

It runs several walks around the city and out to Penistone, looking at the people and places who helped shape modern association football as it exists today. 

More recently, the charity has set its sights on a Walk of Fame star dedicated to England footballer and local girl Millie Bright. 

“I think there needs to be some recognition,” said Mr Ingle. 

“We feel as though the city should celebrate everything that Sheffield women are bringing to the game these days.”

While it is clear the Football Association has come a long way from its controversial ban on women’s football in 1921, Mr Ingle was keen to reiterate that change begins at a grassroots level. 

The notion of football as a ‘boys’ game’, while steadily evolving, is yet to be eradicated completely. 

Mr Ingle said: “Sheffield invented the game, we set up the rules of football, so we really shouldn’t be on the second platform when it comes to women’s football.”

SHOF will be running its third and final ‘Origins of Women’s Football in Sheffield’ walk from the Crucible Theatre on Thursday 26th March. Click here for details.