England trio Jill Scott, Karen Bardsley and Steph Houghton are in France attempting to once again inspire a nation – but they still found the time to pay tribute to one of the game’s true pioneers, Lily Parr.
Parr was the star of Dick, Kerr Ladies in Preston, the most successful women’s team of all time. They played 828 matches of which they won 758, drew 46 and lost only 24. In that time they scored over 3,500 goals, with Parr netting around 1,000 of them.
And Parr’s contribution to the women’s game has been immortalised by Mars, one of The FA’s partners, who commissioned a statue of the 6ft winger, now on display at the National Football Centre. It is the first-ever statue to be built of a female footballer.
“She was the trailblazer for women’s football in this country,” said Houghton.
“Looking up at that statue you think ‘That’s fantastic. That’s where I want to be in the future’,” added Scott. “What a role model.”
Bardsley said: “You look up to players like Lily and think ‘Wow. Can I draw strength from their experiences and what they’ve done?’
“The fact she did what she did at a time which was so different from today in terms of what is acceptable for women in society. She persevered, she was resilient.”
To mark England’s participation at this summer’s World Cup, Mars have launched the ‘Lily Parr Award’ which will be presented to the Lionesses’ star of France 2019.
Mars will post a player of the match poll on Twitter after each England match with fans able to choose their favourite.
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