News

First Ladies of Scottish Football

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

A portrait of Rose Reilly, one of Scotland's most honoured football players, takes centre stage at a new Scottish Football Museum exhibition celebrating the 130 year history of the women's game.

The former World Player of the Year, who lead Italy to World Cup glory, attended the opening of the historic exhibition created by artist Stuart Gibbs.

Former players of Stewarton & Thistle and Edinburgh Dynamos, a club dating back to 1946, also gathered at Hampden Park as MSP for Sport Shona Robinson formally pronounced the display open.

Artist Stuart Gibbs has found evidence that the women's game in Scotland dates back almost 130 years. In 1881 a grand international football match between 'lady players' at 'Hibernian Park, Easter Road' took place on Saturday 7 May 1881, against an English XI with the Scots winning 3-0 in front of a crowd of 2000. The exhibition boasts an incredible display of previously unseen memorabilia and clippings from through the decades as well as a stunning collection of paintings.

Rose Reilly is the only female name to be listed in our Hall of Fame thus far but her fame is magnified in Italy where she played the game professionally. Watch our exclusive video to hear from Rose herself about her status in the game as a young child, how she missed out on her dream move to Celtic when they realised she was a girl, how a daily record journalist helped her realise her dreams with a move to a professional league in France and onto her years as a professional in Italy where she captioned their national team to World Cup glory.

To visit this exhibition and the many more displays at the Scottish Football Museum click here for details.