Alice Woods (footballer)

Alice Stanley (née Woods; 20 March 1899 – 1991) was an English footballer. She played for Dick, Kerr Ladies, one of the earliest women's association football teams. She was a sprinter and one of the first women to race under Amateur Athletic Association of England (AAA) laws.[3]

Alice Woods
Personal information
Full name Alice Stanley
Date of birth (1899-03-20)20 March 1899
Place of birth Sutton, St Helens, England
Date of death 1991 (aged 91–92)
Place of death Manchester, England
Height 165 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder[2]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1919 St Helens Ladies
1919–1928 Dick, Kerr Ladies
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:14, 1 June 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 09:14, 1 June 2019 (UTC)

Early life

Born in Sutton, St Helens, Woods started playing football when she was working at a munitions factory in the town and her brother taught her how to play. Before she took up football, she was already a top class sprinter and could run a hundred yards in twelve seconds. She became the first woman to win a race held under Amateur Athletic Association of England (AAA) laws. This historic meet was the first in England to allow women runners and it took place at Blackpool in 1918, when thirteen female athletes ran the race over 80 yards. Woods developed a rivalry with Elaine Burton.

Club career

Woods began playing for the Dick, Kerr Ladies in 1920. She came to the team after scoring against them for Liverpool Ladies in a 1–0 victory for the Merseyside team in a match played at Wigan. She scored her first goal for the Dick, Kerr Ladies against the French team on 1 May 1920. She travelled to France with the team in 1920 and also played in the Boxing Day match at Goodison Park in 1920. According to verbal evidence from Alice Norris, it was Woods who suggested to team manager Alfred Frankland that Lily Parr would be a good addition to the club. Woods also went on tour to the United States in 1922 and finished playing football in 1928 when she married Herbert Stanley. She died peacefully at her home in Manchester in 1991. She was 92 years old.[4]

Personal life

Woods's brother John played football for Stalybridge Celtic and Halifax Town. The swimmer Gaynor Stanley is Woods's granddaughter.[5]

References
  1. Phillips, Bob (March 2009). "Track Stats - Alice Woods". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 1 June 2019. There is a photograph in Barbara Jacobs's book of the four competitors lined up at the start of this latter race, showing Woods, who was 5ft 6in (1.65m) in height, to be rather taller and sturdier than Burton.
  2. Hogan, Michael (18 July 2017). "When Football Banned Women, review: a fascinating, and infuriating, piece of lost history". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 June 2019. We heard about Parr’s team-mate, pioneering sprinter and formidable midfielder Alice Woods.
  3. "Alice Woods: one of the first British women sprinters of renown". Northern Athletics. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  4. Newsham, Gail J. In a league of their own! : the Dick, Kerr ladies, 1917-1965 (Special Centenary ed.). [Great Britain]. ISBN 9781782225638. OCLC 1026243497.
  5. Simkin, John (September 1997). "Alice Woods". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 1 June 2019.


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