Dagenham & Redbridge

This afternoon we launched an exhibition on women’s football in Bradford. Fittingly, the players, friends and families of Bradford City Women’s Football Club are our guests at this afternoon’s match.
At halftime there will be a five-a-side match featuring the women’s football club. One of the aims of the museum’s exhibition is to strengthen the relationship with the women’s football club. I’m delighted to report that after several positive meetings, the ties between City and the women’s football club are now the best they have been for a decade.
Bradford City Women's Football Club was formed in 1988 and were founder members of the Yorkshire and Humberside League the following year. Promotion and good cup runs set a high standard in the first season.
The late nineties saw the women’s U16 team play at Wembley as a curtain raiser to City’s play-off triumph. With over 30,000 Bradfordians beneath the Twin Towers, it was a huge publicity boost for the women’s club.
The following year the first team were promoted to the Women’s Premier League. It put them up against many semi-professional teams. For two seasons City held their own against the likes of the Doncaster Belles, Arsenal and Everton.
Another link with the Valley Parade team came with Lorraine Kennedy’s appointment as manager of the women’s team. It was a remarkable double, as her father Bobby Kennedy was City’s manager between 1975-78. Bobby is still fondly remembered as the manager who took City to the FA Cup quarter final in 1976.
The women’s football club has teams playing at U12, 14 and16 levels. The first team plays at Thackley’s Ainsbury Avenue ground on Sunday afternoons. Admission is free of charge, so why not go along and offer your support?