35 years on since female coach at Thatcham Tornadoes and Newbury District PSFA was banned from playing football
This Sunday will mark 35 years since a Thatcham girl was told she could no longer play in her school’s football tournament.
Nicky Bedwell had helped take her team at St Mary’s C of E – in which she was the only female player – to the finals of the Primary School Cup in 1989.
But on March 3, a letter was sent to the then 11-year-old girl’s home, informing her parents that she could not compete in the penultimate game.
This was due to FA legislation stopping girls from playing in competitive fixtures.
The school’s letter read: “I am afraid that Nicky will not be able to take part in further matches in the Primary School’s Cup.
“The FA (the real villains) have issued a recent statement which states categorically that girls MUST NOT take part in competitive cup fixtures (friendlies are ok).
“It is either that or withdraw the whole team from the competition – which would solve nothing.
“As you know, this is nothing personal and I have bent the rules earlier in the season to get Nicky in.
“I can no longer do this.”
Now coaching a district girl’s team (Newbury District PSFA), Nicky Bedwell looks back at what could have been had she been allowed to continue to play.
The 45-year-old also coaches the Thatcham Tornadoes under 10s girls team, a grassroots club where her two daughters Emily and Sophie play.
She found the letter over Christmas.
“It bought the story back to life and it was quite emotional,” she said.
“I thought oh my God I can’t believe I am reading this.
“What could have been if I’d had these opportunities?”
She added: “I remember scoring goals to get to the semi-final.
“I was able to get away with looking like a boy, my name is Nicky and I had cut my hair short.
“And I was just one [female] player.
“How can someone play all of these matches but if she plays now the whole team will get disqualified?”
Nicky is now an integral part of the Newbury District PSFA first ever girls team – who finished as runners up in the Southern Counties Girls’ League.
Nicky also took the team on tour to Spain to compete in the Barcelona Girls Cup in their debut season in 2023.
The girls are currently second in the Southern Counties Girls’ League and still have the opportunity to lift two cups at the end of the season, along with another tour to Spain for the Barcelona Girls’ Cup to look forward to.
While Nicky had no other option but to play in a boys’ team to get on to a pitch, trailblazer Isla Ladds recently became the first female player to represent a Newbury District PSFA boys’ team.
Isla made history when she was called in to help the lads face St Albans and Gloucester earlier this year.
“It was really scary at the start,” she said.
“They were a bit short and they asked me to step in.
“All my teammates were there to support me and it was amazing.”
The striker, who has scored 34 goals this season, has been playing football since the age of six, honing her skills with Thatcham Tornadoes, then Reading FC and now her dream club Arsenal.
“It is a big step up,” she said.
“I wanted to take it, it is really tough and the training sessions are far away.
“But it feels amazing and I would not have been able to get there without my teammates and everyone supporting me.
“When I score, they celebrate with me. When I am down, they bring me back up.”
She added: “I remember watching Ellen White after the Euros saying that she wasn’t allowed to play with the boys when she was younger.
“It’s players like her that have paved the way for me to play football and not have to worry about whether I’ll be allowed or not.
Isla’s father Mark Ladds said he and wife Sharyn could not be more proud of her.
He said: “She works extremely hard.”
“The letter that Nicky sent to us over Christmas was appalling.
“It is shame it took 35 years to get to this point but it is all moving in the right direction.”
He added: “When Isla went to play for the district boys’ team, the boys were welcoming.
“We never found anyone turning their nose up that there was a girl in the team.
“If you are good enough, you are good enough.”
Also on Sunday – coinciding with the anniversary of Nicky’s letter – Isla’s reds gear up to face Spurs women in a North London derby at a packed out Emirates Stadium.