Quite Unsuitable For Females: Recent Episodes
National Football Museum
This is Quite Unsuitable For Females, a podcast series where we reveal the secrets, tackle the stereotypes and bust the myths about women in football.
Community producers Rosy, Meg, Uma and Debs delve into the National Football Museum's archive to bring women's football off the bench and onto the pitch.
What has been the common thread that runs through the series?
Community producers Meg, Uma, Debs and Rosy reflect on what they have learned. Is community the key to the future of the women’s game? And how do we ensure it continues to be documented and is not forgotten again?
Featuring the first ever inclusive women's and non-binary football club in Manchester.
Guests
Manchester Rovers
Manchester Laces
SFX Credits
SFX used is licensed under a Creative Commons 3 license from freesound.org and freesfx.co.uk - full list and links here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zGiH0598srvgx6MRKrkNvHr92EWZMYWACqzcSsOlEBM/edit
This episode we talk about kits! We start off with the oldest womens kit in the museum's archive, and go on to talk about the role of kits in the present day with collector Chelsey Downing, and sports apparel entrepreneur, Grace Vella.
We touch on the aesthetics of kits, but go far deeper than that, as we reflect on kit symbolism and the role of the kit within football communities.
Guests
Chelsey Downing
Grace Vella
Vox pops recorded at the National Football Museum. Special thanks to Vic Turnbull, the National Football Museum and the Quite Unsuitable For Females co-producers.
SFX Credits
SFX used is licensed under a Creative Commons 3 license from freesound.org and freesfx.co.uk - full list and links here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zGiH0598srvgx6MRKrkNvHr92EWZMYWACqzcSsOlEBM/edit
What does representing their country mean to female footballers?
International football has acted as a world stage for women; a platform for their fight, especially so now, as we can see has been the case for Afghanistan’s female football team.
The first official England and Scotland Women’s international was played 100 years after the first men’s official international between the same two sides. Within those 100 years women were most definitely playing internationally, and often sides would play tours and competitions unofficially representing England. So for many women, representing their country meant not being officially recognised in their victories and defeats.
Now, there are women who will be representing their country this summer for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, some for the very first time. With them, they carry the history of the women who played, both unofficially and officially, before them.
This episode focuses on the importance of the deep connection between women’s football and international tours and competitions over the years.
Inspired by a picture of the Dick, Kerr Ladies (a popular women’s football team in the 1920s who drew large stadium crowds), this episode delves into the interest, perception and atmosphere of the modern women’s game drawing similarities with the game of the past. England International Toni Duggan and historian Fiona Skillen to name a few share their knowledge and experiences affirming that the women’s game is one that has always had interest.
We kick off the pod with an episode inspired by the statue of Lily Parr, England’s first female football star. Lily’s groundbreaking career began in 1919, but her impact on the game is still felt over one hundred years later.
We find out what it means to be a football legend today, and the importance of role models and representation for women and non-binary players and fans.
We hear from fans at the women’s Manchester Derby, as well as FA National Youth Council and Football vs Homophobia representative Holly Grimes, and Goaldiggers podcast co-host Moyo Abiona.
A warm-up ahead of our community-produced podcast on women in football, affording you a preview of what's in store over the course of five episodes.
Join Rosy, Uma, Debs and Meg as they uncover new stories, bust myths and challenge the stereotypes around the women's game.
We are joined for this episode by our Women in Football Curator, Belinda Scarlett, who talks us through the development of kit in the women's game. From the 1800s to the 2019 Women's World Cup, we discuss some of the best kits in our collection and how there has been so much progress in both the tailoring and design of shirts in the women’s game. We also hear from former England star Liz Deighan on a shirt she lifted the FA Cup in and current Manchester City star Aoife Mannion about what kit means to them.
This episode we will be journeying down the divisions to see how non-league and grassroots clubs are breaking away from template designs to create some of the most innovative and exciting kits in football.
We speak to Phil Galloway about the fantastic shirt he designed for 1874 Northwich and Lewes FC’s Maggie Murphy about how their equality ethos filters through into their kits. We'll burst a myth about small birds and a Welsh club will have one of their kits thrown into the Hall of Shame.
In this episode we look at the impact of football kit on the environment, whether clubs releasing three new kits every year can ever be sustainable and what the kit makers are doing about it. We speak to Hummel designer Rob Revell about their zero h20 kits and PlayerLayer’s Roderick Bradley about the eco friendly bamboo charcoal shirts they’ve developed. We also chuck a hideous Warrior kit into our Hall of Shame and find out which club can wear its home kit for every match.
Discussing all things Umbro, the longstanding North West brand responsible for some of our all-time favourite shirts - as well as one new entry into our Hall of Shame. We also hear from legendary graphic designer Peter Saville, who created England’s eye catching 2010 strip.
In this second episode, we'll be chatting about the explosion of football kit creativity kickstarted by adidas in the 1980s. We speak to former adidas designer Ina Franzmann, who created some of the most iconic kits of all time, and current design director Juergen Rank about the creative process. We also chuck an infamous grey kit into the Hall of Shame...
We delve into the first century of strip and the rise of the replica shirt. We burst a myth about shirt sponsorship and hear from football kit pioneer Bert Patrick, the founder of Admiral, the Leicester brand responsible for the dawn of the replica market and some of the most memorable kits of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Your pre-match preamble with two of the team behind the National Football Museum's Strip! exhibition. Introducing the museum's Head of Exhibitions, Jon Sutton, and Tim Ashmore, our Graphics & Interpretation Producer, who will be talking you through the history of the humble football shirt.
Strip! How Football Got Shirty is on display at the National Football Museum until Spring 2021.