‘The Girls Themselves Are Deluded into Thinking That This Sort of Football Was Sport’: Exploring the Development of Women's Football in Interwar Scotland

Abstract The First World War brought with it many new opportunities for women, amongst them the chance to play football. The game became popular and an important way of raising funds for charity. However, when the war ended, there was a push to return to the pre‐war social order, which ended many of the activities women had enjoyed for the duration of hostilities. Women's football became a focal point for this wider ‘backlash’, as exemplified by press reports emphasizing the inappropriateness of women playing as well as the introduction of a formal ‘ban’ by the governing associations. Nonetheless, many women continued to play. This article explores the challenges faced by those seeking to play the game. By tracing the complex development for women's football in interwar Scotland, it moves beyond the existing literature on the history of the women's game during the interwar period, which has tended to focus on developments in England.