Helen Matthews


Helen Graham Matthews, also known by her pseudonym Mrs Graham, was a Scottish suffragette and women's footballer. She is known for founding the Mrs Graham's XI, widely considered to be the first women's football team anywhere in the world.

Personal life

Matthews was born in Montrose, Angus, Scotland.

Career

In 1881, Matthews decided to set up a women's Scottish national team, after watching an all-male match between Scotland and England at the Oval, London, which Scotland won 6-1. She used the pseudonym Mrs Graham and named the team Mrs Graham's XI. The first record of the team coming together to play football occurred on 9 May 1881, at Edinburgh's Easter Road Stadium. The match was billed as a Scotland v England international, and Matthews played as a goalkeeper. After women's football was banned in Scotland, Matthews and Nettie Honeyball formed The Lady Footballer team in England. Matthews left The Lady Footballer in 1896, and in the same year, she took Mrs Graham's XI to play against Scottish men's teams. In the first match of the tour against Irvine, Matthews sustained a black eye, but continued playing. Matthews only revealed her true identity in 1900.