With the former secretary of the FA set to be inducted posthumously into the University of Nottingham’s Sport Hall of Fame we speak to his daughter about his remarkable life
Much has been made of the Football Association’s 50-year ban from 1921 on female players using its affiliated pitches, which scythed down the women’s game just as its growth had accelerated, with matches attracting attendances in excess of 50,000. Little, though, has been said of the eventual lifting of the ban in 1971, or of the man who authored the letter rescinding it. Now, the University of Nottingham is set to induct posthumously Sir Denis Follows – the then secretary of the FA and an alumnus – into its Sport Hall of Fame.
The uncovering of the small but critical role of Follows, who died in 1983 aged 75, in the development of women’s football – which later led to him being named honorary life vice-president of the Women’s Football Association – happened by chance. Follows’s daughter, Maggie Ferris – another Nottingham alumnus – mentioned her father in a routine fundraising phone call with the university.
Written by Suzanne Wrack
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/apr/10/sir-denis-follows-the-man-who-ended-the-ban-on-women-playing-football under the title “Sir Denis Follows: the man who ended the ban on women playing football”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
