Written by Rianna Curran and Ellie-Mae Thompson
UK based football writer Clare McEwen is soon set to publish a book entitled ‘She Can Kick It’, exploring the history of the women’s game, and delving into the rise of women’s football across the globe from the late 1800’s until the present day. The Cornwall native has felt an overwhelming love for football since her early childhood days, but with limited opportunities to play or see female role models, it wasn’t until recent years of increasing visibility of the sport that led her to feel compelled to write about the importance of female footballers, and their historic exclusion from the history books.
‘She Can Kick It’ adds to a growing number of literature surrounding the history of the women’s game, and the decades of battles fought by women to be taken seriously and to simply be allowed to play the sport they love most. As each year goes by and the women’s game grows in popularity and visibility, more people are beginning to acknowledge the catastrophic impact of the FA’s 50-year ban on women playing football in England, and to show gratitude and recognition towards the determined trailblazers of the 1900’s and early 2000’s.
This book sets out to cover key moments in football, including the “unofficial” Euros and World Cup tournaments which attracted tens of thousands of fans, proving that the women’s game has long been popular but has been forced to remain restrained due to misogynistic oppression from those in power.
They call it the beautiful game for a reason, and there is a beautiful thread of a mix of personal anecdotes and eye-opening interviews from former Lionesses that runs through the premise of this easy-to-read book, suitable for those young and old.
‘She Can Kick It’ is a particularly pertinent publication due to the current lack of representation of women’s football within literature and will be a staple in the growing field of femalefootball books. These types of books in bookstores are very limited, so ‘She Can Kick It’ will be vital in inspiring readers and writers both young and old to get involved in the ever-growing representation of female sport in literature. The representation of women’s football in published books is important due to online articles often getting lost or archived as they grow, whereas literature is timeless and physical copies of books can almost always be retrieved and kept through generations or shared amongst family and friends.
If you enjoyed ‘Unsuitable for Females’ by Carrie Dunn, or ‘A Women’s Game’ by Suzanne Wrack, then be sure to check out this exciting new book due to be released on December 4th2024.
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