Edna Neillis
Personal information
Full name Edna Neillis
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) Striker
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 association football player, 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.

Honors and awards

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. 1 2 Campbell, Alan (28 July 2015). "Death of a football trailblazer". The Herald. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 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.


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