The display includes postcards, a shirt and boots linked to the pioneering players. Reports suggest those objects help tell the story of a thriving women’s game, with clubs drawing substantial public attention during and after the First World War.
Sterling Ladies FC became a particularly prominent name, appearing regularly in newspapers and attracting interest beyond England. Its story matters because it challenges the idea that women’s football is a modern invention. Long before today’s packed stadiums and global tournaments, women were building audiences, rivalries and sporting identities of their own.
That momentum was damaged when the Football Association prohibited women’s teams from using affiliated grounds. The decision pushed the game to the margins and helped create the historical silence the exhibition is now attempting to break.
Bolton has said that even his own family did not fully understand the scale of Ashcroft’s achievements during her lifetime. He describes the players as “superstrelas originais” - the original superstars - while also stressing how little recognition they received.
That contrast gives the exhibition its emotional force. It is not simply a collection of old football memorabilia; it is an argument about whose achievements are preserved and whose are forgotten.
The next challenge is ensuring this history travels beyond Kansas. If England’s modern women’s game is to understand its foundations, clubs, museums and football authorities must continue telling the stories of pioneers such as Ashcroft, Smith and Sterling Ladies FC.