Edna Neillis

Edna Neillis

Personal information
Date of birth	15 April 1953
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death	18 July 2015(2015-07-18) (aged 62)
Place of death	Cumbernauld, Scotland
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1970-1973	Westthorn United
1973–1975	Reims
1975–1977	A.C.F. Milan
1978–1982	Gorgonzola
1983	Piacenza
1984	Gorgonzola
1985–1989	A.C.F. Foggia
1989–1990	A.C.F. San Pietro in Lama[1]
International career
1972–1975	Scotland	5	(4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Edna Neillis (15 April 1953 – 13 July 2015) was a Scottish women's football forward, who represented the Scottish women's football team and played in the French and Italian championships.[2]

Neillis was born in Glasgow, and raised in the east of the city, playing football in the streets as a child and for Ruchazie boys' team.[3][4] She went on to play with Westthorn United, a women's team based in Glasgow.[4] She earned her first cap with the Scotland national team as a teenager and played in the team's first international match against England in 1972.[3] Previously, women's football was banned for over 50 years.[5]

Neillis and her teammate Rose Reilly received a lifetime ban by the Scottish FA after speaking out against the national team's amateur-level coach in 1975.[6][7] She continued to play professionally in Italy.

Honours

A.C.F. Milan

• Serie A title: 1975[7]
• Italian Cup: 1975, 1976[7]

Gorgonzola

• Italian Cup: 1980[7]

Individual

• Inducted into Scottish Women in Sport Hall of Fame in 2018

In popular culture

In 2013, Neillis was featured in the BBC documentary Honeyballers, focused on the pioneers of Scottish women's football.[8][9] In December 2015, a motion to induct Neillis into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame was proposed.[10]

References

1. As A.C.F. Foggia chose to play in Division C due to financial problems at the end of season 1987-1988 so that Edna decided to play it. The following championship moved to A.C.F. San Pietro in Lama some 7 km. south towards Lecce (source: "La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno", free search).
2. "Edna Neillis Recognised at Art Exhibition". Scottish FA. 21 March 2013. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
3. Campbell, Alan (28 July 2015). "Death of a football trailblazer". The Herald. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
4. O'Neill, Jen (22 July 2015). "Edna Neillis, Passing Of A Pioneer". SheKicks. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
5. "WW1: Why was women's football banned in 1921?". BBC. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
6. Williams, Jane (7 March 2013). A Game for Rough Girls?: A History of Women's Football in Britain. Routledge. p. 40. ISBN 978-1135136147. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
7. Campbell, Alan (29 July 2015). "Tributes paid as pioneering Scots female footballer who starred for country and AC Milan dies at 62". Daily Record. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
8. "Lady Florence Dixie and the dangerous women of Scottish women's football". Dangerous Women Project. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
9. "The Honeyballers: The women who fought to play football". BBC. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
10. "Motion S4M-13934: Recognising Scottish Football Pioneer, Edna Neillis". Scotland Parliament. Retrieved 21 June 2016.

External links

• Edna Neillis Recognised at Art Exhibition