Lost Lionesses
A TILL DAWN Fan-Led initiative, designing, creating and presenting England caps to the 'Lost Lionesses' who played in an unofficial Women's World Cup in Mexico 1971. In partnership with Mitre and the Football Supporters Association.
2023
CREATIVE PRODUCTION DESIGN PHOTOGRAPHY VIDEO EVENTS
PURPOSE
The Lost Lionesses are a team that played in the Mexico World Cup in 1971. The tournament launched the team to overnight fame and stardom as they played in front of crowds of 90,000. But on their return to England, this support fell silent - the players were subsequently banned from playing football; some to never play again - such was the lie of the land in Women’s football back in the early 70s.
Due to the structure of the ‘unofficial’ tournament, our team from '71 are yet to be officially recognised and that inspired us to think creatively about alternative ways to congratulate and commemorate this team for being true pioneers of Women’s football.
The project is supported by the FSA (Football Supporters Association) and is a fan-led initiative which connects contemporary design with some truly meaningful pieces of history.
We collaborated with designer Sophie Hird to create 14 unique England caps. Designed, created, upcycled and presented by football fans who like so many have been touched by the story of this great team. In addition we collaborated with Jon-Paul Wheatley to create a 1 of 1 Mitre Football which is inspired by Mitre's rich history in supporting Women's Football. This was gifted to the family of Harry Batt, the coach from '71.
IDEA.
Upon hearing their story from 71, we identified that because of the unofficial organisation of the tournament, these trailblazers have never received England caps from the FA. It was from then on our mission to seek an alternative and being a fan-led initiative, this allowed us to come together as football community to create a solution for a problem outstanding for over 50 years. Running as an independent project, this also provided us with the creative freedom to experiment with the caps and create pieces of art and design, rather than conform to traditional techniques.
Each cap is inspired by a player who played after 71, a testament to the path these players created, detailed down to a specific match ranging from 1996 - 2022.
Alongside the caps, we were lucky enough to partner with Mitre who have a iconic history in the Women's game, in which we created a 1of1 football - gifted to the family of coach, Harry Batt.
