By Marta Elena Casanova
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When we talk about women’s football, it’s often presented as a recent achievement, almost like a phenomenon born in the last few decades. But the truth is that women began fighting for a place in the world of football long before the spotlight was ever turned on. When football still appeared to be an impenetrable male stronghold, some brave figures decided to challenge conventions, prejudices, and even regulations to pave the way for those who would come after them. Two names shine brighter than others in the historical memory of this sport: Edelmira Calvetó and Nettie Honeyball. Two women, two eras, two different battles, but one common goal: to prove that football has no gender.
Edelmira: A Woman in the Club
Edelmira Calvetó was the first woman to officially join the administrative structure of FC Barcelona. It was 1913, and the mere fact that a woman could cross the threshold of a football club’s offices was almost a revolutionary act. Edelmira wasn’t a football player, but her action was deeply political: a passionate supporter of the Blaugrana, she decided to claim the right to be there, to participate, to matter.
At a time when women didn’t even have the right to vote, she carved out a space for herself in a rigidly male context and helped build what is today one of the most famous football clubs in the world. How did she do it? Simply by noticing a detail in the membership form required to join the club: it stated that people over the age of sixteen could become members. It was that very word — people, inclusive of both men and women — that opened the door for her.
Nettie Honeyball: The First “Feminist” Footballer in History
While Edelmira was entering the halls of football power in Spain, even earlier in England, another pioneer was quite literally stepping onto the pitch, football boots on and clear ideas in her mind. Nettie Honeyball is considered the first footballer in the history of organized women’s football. In 1894, during the height of the Victorian era, she founded the British Ladies’ Football Club, firmly convinced that women had not only the right to play football but also the right to be seen doing it. Honeyball was not just an athlete — she was an activist. She openly called herself a feminist in an age when the term was rarely used and often scorned. In an interview, she declared: “I founded this club with the aim of proving to the world that women are not the foolish creatures they are assumed to be.” A sentence that might make us smile today, but at the time, it hit like a punch in the gut to bourgeois conformism.
The British Ladies’ Football Club played several public matches, attracting both curiosity and contempt. Stadiums filled up, but not always to admire the game — women were often mocked, hindered, even assaulted. Still, Nettie didn’t give up. Although the club had a short lifespan, her legacy lives on. She was the one who showed that football could be a vehicle for emancipation, that sport could break down cultural and social barriers. And it’s thanks to women like her that we can now talk about women’s leagues, professional teams, and millionaire female players.
The Future Is Built by Remembering the Past
To talk about women in football today without remembering those who paved the way would be a mistake. From Edelmira Calvetó to Nettie Honeyball, these women took action in times when no one was watching — no cameras, no social media, no sponsors. And yet their importance is immeasurable. Telling their stories today is not only an act of historical justice but a way to understand that every step forward came at a cost, and that behind every woman footballer we see on the pitch today, there are other women who fought to get her there.
By Marta Elena Casanova
