June has been the month of the Wimbledon Slam tournament, but now in the UK all channels are focused on the UEFA Women EURO England Football Cup. And what made me very curious and happy, was to find about the first ever black woman England football captain, Mary Phillip.
Mary Phillis is an English international football player and now men’s Kent County League team in Peckham Town (first female manager of a cup-winning senior side). In 2003 was the first black player to captain England women’s international football team and until 2011 was the only player to represent the country in two World Cup squads.
Born and raised in Peckham, when you are looking on the net about Phillip, you discover a brilliant career, inspirational and motivational for many girls and women out there. Actually, for all people out there. I was astonished that internationally we ( or maybe just me) didn’t hear about her enough as other (women) athletes like Serena Williams, Simon Bayles, Federica Pellegrini and more.
But that does not surprise me considering that when talking about football, there is still a lot of sexist and discrimination about the women category and when speaking with my male friends the comments ofter are “That is not football”, “They do not play seriously”, “ They might be good technically, but the level and thoughness is lower compared to the men champsionship”. And so, a question comes in my mind “How can you measure seriousness, toughness when both categories plays professionally, trains everyday, compete at national and international level?
Differences and inequalities in gender competitions have been a topic for long time discussed and highlighted many times. As an ex agonistic tennis player, I still remember when I used to go to tournaments and see the different cash prices I could win compared to my tennis male colleagues ( without any reason). I never thought about it until I discovered the history behind the foundation of the Women Tennis Association and the battle Billie Mary Jean King did and she is still doing for women tennis players to earn a cash money prize as their male colleagues. Furthermore, I once heard from an ex male (weren’t the exact words Grandslam championship saying that “if (Serena Williams) played the men’s circuit she’d be like 700 in the world”. This comment has created a lot of criticism, obviously, where again a woman career has been diminished just for being a woman forgetting that he is talking about a 23 grand slam championship.
Just for the fact we are born as women, we are considered weak, fragile and not at the same level of our male colleagues.
And this, overshadows figures and personalities as Mary Phillip, that should be highlighted and be spoken about, considered all the achievements she has gained and that she will continuing gaining.
So as you could see, in this world , in this era, we are still fighting for equal rights in all fields and environments. But I am so happy to have discovered Mary Phillips and to share it with you. Here some other links about her history and career to check out:
- https://www.voice-online.co.uk/sport/football/2022/06/01/mary-phillip-the-first-black-woman-to-officially-captain-the-england-womens-honoured-with-plaque/
- https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mary-phillip-i-dont-tell-the-players-my-history-i-like-them-to-take-me-at-face-value-bh659756d
- https://www.givemesport.com/87984000-mary-phillip-the-ex-england-captain-whos-transforming-mens-football
And if you enjoy sport, follow the UEFA Women’e EURO England 2022 cup and support our players out there!
The Feminist Health CIC 