The story of the 1971 unofficial women’s football World Cup, which drew crowds of over 100,000 but was quickly erased from history, is finally being told in a new film called Copa 71. For the English players, the tournament in Mexico was like being “launched into a parallel universe”, captain Carol Wilson recalls. They were unprepared for the reception they received in the tournament’s host country where they were treated like superstars, with crowds waiting for autographs and mobbing their team coach. Ironically, the success of the tournament was owed to the fact that Fifa attempted to block it by imposing a ban, forcing organisers to find stadiums that were not controlled by the Mexican football federation. As a result, the matches ended up being played in the country’s two biggest venues, and estimates suggest the final was watched by more than 100,000 people.
The documentary offers a glimpse of what could have been a parallel universe of women’s football that had not been suppressed. Women from different countries all recount similar stories of being told football was “not for girls”. Although the tournament owed its success to Fifa’s attempt to block it, the male footballing authorities saw this as a threat. The England team’s manager, Harry Batt, was blacklisted by the Women’s Football Association, which was putting together the first official England team. Some players were also banned. Several decades later, the participants of the tournament are getting back the recognition that they deserved.
The documentary received glowing reviews after its premiere at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. It exposes an obscured chapter in history and thrusts its heroes into a well-deserved spotlight. For Wilson, watching the film was “very emotional”. It took her straight back to 1971 and she felt like she was transported there. Recent World Cups and Euros have started to fulfil the potential for women’s football, but “we could have been a lot further a lot sooner”, she says. More women’s sports films can go beyond the cookie-cutter narrative of films about men’s sports and help solidify women’s place in sports. The growth in women’s sports has been extraordinary but there is still progress to be made. Copa 71 is released in UK cinemas on Friday, 8 March.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More