217:. A number of individuals named "Clarke" make it difficult to provide precise details as to Clarke's career with the British Ladies, however, photographic evidence shows her lined up in the official team photo for the "South" team of the British Ladies in their inaugural exhibition match, a game watched by more than 10,000 people at
235:, selected as part of the team which toured Scotland that year. Interest in the tour was substantial and their matches regularly attracted crowds numbering in the thousands. As well as receiving payment for expenses, it is estimated that Clarke would have been paid approximately a shilling a week while on the tour.
258:, once described by a journalist as "a coloured lady of Dutch build", who was later confirmed to be white. Clarke was rediscovered by artist Stuart Gibbs only when a photo of the team that toured Scotland was discovered. He then identified that the player in question was Clarke, not Boustead.
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and Ten of Her Lady
Friends" against "Eleven Gentlemen". The ladies team were victorious 3–1, although the report at the time made it clear the feelings about the women's game at the time, describing the game as a grotesque, although conceding that "in the second half the ladies distinguished
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Born in Bootle, Lancashire in
England, to parents William and Wilhelmina Clarke, Emma, along with her sister, who was also one of the earliest known black women footballers in Britain, grew up in
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There are contradictory records of Emma's sister's name, which might have been Jane or
Florence. There may have also been a third sister, Mary.
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For their exhibition games, the
British Ladies would often field two teams from the club, named either "North" and "South" or "Red" and "Blue"
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in a match, billed as a
Scotland v England international (though it was not a full international in the modern sense).
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lived. Matthews later gave her name to a team for which Clarke played at the beginning of the twentieth century,
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The first record of women's teams in an organised football match had occurred on 7 May 1881, at
Edinburgh's
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565:"Women's football pioneer Emma Clarke and younger sister Florence honoured with blue heritage plaque"
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364:"The website for the English football association, the Emirates FA Cup and the England football team"
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402:"Revealed: Britain's first black female footballer after case of mistaken identity"
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From the Back Page to the Front Room: Football's journey through the
English media
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as "the fleet footed dark girl on the right wing". She also played as goalkeeper.
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For decades, Clarke and her contribution to the game was mistaken for goalkeeper
591:"Emma Clarke: Women's football pioneer honoured with plaque at a Hornsey school"
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435:"Emma Clarke: FA backs call to honour first British black female player"
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Her club football career began in 1895, when she made her debut for the
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themselves". It is also thought that her sister played in this match.
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Clarke's career as a footballer continued until at least 1903.
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Clarke normally played as an outfield player, described by the
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In 1897, she made an appearance for a team described as "The
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Variously reported in newspapers at the time as up to 11,000
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commemorating Clarke was unveiled at
Campsbourne School,
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Theatre company, Futures
Theatre, wrote a play called
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The following year (1896), Clarke made her debut for
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540:"Emma Clarke honoured with blue heritage plaque"
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156:*Club domestic league appearances and goals
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646:Women's association football forwards
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589:Pickford, Freya (6 December 2019).
464:"The British Ladies' Football Club"
294:Women's association football portal
433:Chowdhury, Saj (31 October 2018).
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524:"Grotesque Football at Alford".
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400:Kessel, Anna (28 March 2017).
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211:British Ladies' Football Club
130:British Ladies' Football Club
73:1905 (aged 28–29)
302:Women's association football
165:(1876 - 1905) was a British
641:English women's footballers
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511:. Retrieved February 2015.
631:Black British sportswomen
488:Domeneghetti, R. (2014),
268:In 2019, a blue heritage
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307:Dick, Kerr's Ladies F.C.
651:Footballers from Bootle
203:South Wales Daily News
186:Helen Graham Matthews
410:Guardian Media Group
39:Personal information
215:Lady Florence Dixie
33:Emma Clarke in 1895
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499:2018-09-11 at the
462:Brennan, Patrick.
16:British footballer
569:Women in Football
470:. Patrick Brennan
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87:right-winger
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626:1905 deaths
621:1876 births
444:11 November
163:Emma Clarke
78:Position(s)
22:Emma Clarke
615:Categories
509:1783015586
351:References
219:Crouch End
183:suffragist
173:Early life
167:footballer
82:Goalkeeper
439:BBC Sport
240:New Woman
65:, England
497:Archived
474:28 March
415:28 March
280:See also
600:20 June
574:20 June
549:20 June
274:Hornsey
263:Offside
49: (
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494:p. 155
270:plaque
250:Legacy
179:Bootle
63:Bootle
313:Notes
98:Years
602:2021
576:2021
551:2021
505:ISBN
476:2017
446:2018
417:2017
141:1896
125:1895
108:Apps
102:Team
51:1876
47:1876
116:Gls
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