With most sport currently on hold in the island because of the latest lockdown, reporter and co-author Paul Hatton looks at the history of women’s football in the Isle of Man .

Women’s football -

the inaugural season

Women’s competitive football is now in its 22nd year in the island, but the sport itself on these shores certainly isn’t new.

The first recorded evidence of a women’s football played in the Isle of Man stemmed back to 1895 when the famous British Ladies’ Football Club visited the island as part of their tour.

On Whit Monday, more than 2,000 spectators saw an exhibition match played at Falcon Cliff, Douglas.

The legendary Dick, Kerr & Co Ladies’ FC paid a visit in August 1921 and played three exhibition matches against St Helen’s at Port Erin, Douglas and Ramsey, continuing to make a number of visits during the 1950s (a crowd of over 4,000 was present at one such match in 1953 at the Castletown Stadium).

There was also evidence of clubs in the island having women’s teams dating as far back as the 1930s, making rare appearances at charity fund-raisers and village fayres.

With an increased interest in the sport in the coming years and women’s football gaining more publicity through cable television and media coverage, the sport grew in popularity.

Towards the end of the Millennium, several teams were formed and that groundswell of support culminated in a meeting at the Isle of Man Football Association headquarters to start competitive women’s football.

The first competition was the Floodlit Cup (then the HSBC Cup) which was played across the artificial surfaces at the NSC, Castle Rushen High School, QEII and Ramsey Grammar on Friday evenings.

Matches were 20 minutes each way and 10 teams entered the inaugural competition: Douglas Royal, Peel, Gymnasium, Laxey, Castletown, Malew, Rushen United, Ayre United plus Union Mills A and B teams.

The Millers entered an additional team as a result of the number of the players they had on their books, along with a last-minute withdrawal from Ramsey.

The 10 sides were split into two groups of five and the format was a round-robin basis, with the top two from each group qualifying for the semis and then the final.

The competition started on Friday, January 28, 2000 with two matches kicking off at 7pm at the NSC (Douglas Royal v Laxey) and at QEII (Peel v Castletown).

Royal’s Donna Shimmin was credited in scoring the first goal and also the first hat-trick when helping her side to win their opening fixture 3-0. In the other match, Sarah Stanley scored the only goal as the Peel beat Town 1-0.

Two matches were played on the same pitches that evening. Kicking off at 7.45pm, Christina Skelly scored four as Rushen beat Union Mills B 6-0 at QEII, while Malew and Ayre United played out a goalless draw at the NSC.

With group matches played weekly, Douglas Royal won all of their group games to top group A ahead of Peel, with Rushen and Union Mills A qualifying for the final four from group B.

Royal continued their impressive form in the semi-finals by beating Union Mills A 5-0, while in the other match Rushen defeated Peel 4-0.

The scene was set on March 10 at the NSC for the first ever women’s football final to be played in the Isle of Man and, with an eagerly-awaiting crowd gathered, the match kicked off at 7.10pm.

After a keenly-fought and goalless first half, Douglas Royal found the breakthrough via Sarah McAdam’s strike, only for the Spaniards to equalise through an Eleanor Gawne penalty.

With both teams giving their all, neither side could add to the scoreline before full-time and also during extra-time, therefore the final was to be decided via a penalty shoot-out.

It was still gridlocked 1-1 in regulation penalties but it was Royal who won it in sudden death, Sonya Dunn scoring her spot-kick and Rushen having their penalty saved.

The first league campaign started on April 28, 2000 and matches were played either on a Thursday or Friday evening at a club’s ground. The league format was the teams only played each other once (there was no home and away).

Popularity in the sport increased with DHSOB and Corinthians also entering teams and, as such, there were two leagues each consisting of six teams.

Douglas Royal sealed the Division One title after winning all five of their matches, with their biggest scoreline coming against Rushen who they defeated 7-1, thus completing a league and cup double in their first season.

Ayre United became the first team to be relegated.

In Division Two, newcomers DHSOB clinched the championship and promotion to the top flight also with a 100 percent winning record.

It proved to be a memorable season for Royal, with McAdam winning the Women’s Player of the Year award.

In September 2000, the Isle of Man women’s representative team played their first fixtures in the Celt Cup in Northern Ireland.

On September 22, the Manx side lost their opening match 7-0 to the hosts and the following day the Isle of Man were thrashed 27-0 against Scotland, with Arsenal’ player Julie Fleeting scoring no fewer than 14 times.

In the next installment of this series, Paul will look at women’s football in the island between 2001-2007