232:(WFA) did not support professionalism of women's football, nor did they want manager Harry Batt to take his scouted teams to the World Cup, blacklisting his family and teams; with this, the FA ban on women still in place, and her new husband making her feel humiliated for playing, Wilson did not continue to play and did not talk about football again for years. She later admitted that she would have liked to play professionally abroad or for England again. The WFA were in the process of establishing a formal England women's team during 1971, which would debut the following year.
132:: he encouraged her to walk as a child by kicking a football down the lane, and passed with her on the sidelines of Sunday league games they attended. She had informally played football with neighbour boys in back lanes from about the age of five, but would hide if other people came by as they mocked her for joining in. When she was eight, the family moved to a house that was next to a field, and she would practice on it with her father. A poor family, they would stand outside
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Wilson's, though from the
Argentina game. She and seven other members of the team went to hospital and, due to the altitude, most of the team were treated with oxygen after the match. The Mexican fans still adored them, and the Mexican team held a farewell party and formed a "guard of honour" as Wilson and Yvonne Farr returned to the hotel with their legs in plaster.
212:; crowds greeted them at the airport, supporters threw gifts at the team bus, and, when they left, were told they had won the hearts of Mexican people. The team's first game was against Argentina, who played viciously, and Wilson injured her foot but played on; she would play in the next game, too. The attendance for the Mexico vs England game at the
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England again). The
British press were negative about the competition, both England's defeat and the injuries sustained, arguing that women should not play football. After some time, a local Luton paper did report on the affection Mexico held for the girls, though the spread did focus on them as female objects of desire and mocked the concept of "a
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Ultimately, the
England team came sixth of six in the finals. Their team was the only non-professional side, all under 24 and mostly teenagers, and, due to the injuries, featured some Mexican substitutes in their last, hastily-arranged, play-off match (one of whom, Cecilia Gallegos, would play for
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She captained the side for all of her known international caps, starting with the qualifiers: based on her RAF experience, Batt had asked Wilson to help with the team's fitness training and to be captain. She has said she thinks he did this after another player, also from the RAF, lost a finger
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was reported as around 90,000. It was more violent than the first match, with one player reporting the score line as "Mexico 4 – 1 broken leg, 1 broken foot, 3 strained ligaments, 1 cartilage, 1 badly bruised shoulder & various other bruises, cuts, bumps and knocks"; the broken foot was
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with male colleagues, and they often had the courts to themselves; a girls' football team played next to them one time, with a scout watching that game. The scout instead took interest in Wilson, and afterwards asked a senior officer to speak with her. She was invited to trial in
144:, Wilson was invited to a reception with Newcastle United and took her father. With girls disallowed from playing football, she could not play in school but maintained her interest as she grew up. She joined the
197:(FA) would not accept the team, and they had to get private sponsorship to travel to Mexico, which they did. She says her RAF colleagues were uninterested, which she puts down to them also working with
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189:, though her unauthorised team has never been officially recognised. The team did well, though only qualified by default; Wilson was approached by an Italian club side, possibly
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444:"1971 Women's World Cup: Interviews with Players: Carol Wilson, Captain of the Squad"
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100:(born June 1952) is a British former amateur footballer. She captained an unofficial
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272:"England's 1971 World Cup captain calls for FA to recognise her snubbed team"
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An interview with Carol Wilson: Captain of the 1971 Women's World Cup Squad
324:"The Lost Lionesses: Carol Wilson on playing in the 1971 Women's World Cup"
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She recalls the response to the team in Mexico to be like that received by
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youngest person to captain a team that represented
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485:"Skipton's former Lioness, Jean, hails women's football victory"
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during practice. Still eighteen at the time, Wilson remains the
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played, as they could never afford to go in. After going to the
536:"Great Britain v Northampton 1971 – at Biggleswade + Articles"
510:"Lionesses: Former England player says recognition is overdue"
360:"England Matches – The England Women's Football Team 1970–90"
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