Many of the women were hardworking girls employed at the munitions factory as part of the war effort which had been raging across Europe since 1914. - - This postcard, discovered by Banbridge postcard collector Des Quail, recalls the event which is believed to be the very first recorded international women’s football match in soccer history. It appears they played against a Tyneside Ladies team at Grosvenor Park in Belfast, which was the home ground of the Distillery football team – an England v Ireland fixture which was played in front of a 20,000 strong crowd on Boxing Day. Written on the back of the postcard is who may be in the photo. It says 2nd from right standing Ethel Jones; 1st left standing Olive McCappin and 4th from left standing Ruby Hall. Des Quail, a now retired school principal from Banbridge and an avid postcard collector, is interested to know if anyone might recognise a family member from the team. He revealed that the family who gave him the card were from Bessbrook and gave Des the information which is on the back of the card. "Ladies football was banned 4 years later. The Lurgan ladies worked in an ammunition factory, I think. With the interest in Ladies soccer now this may create some interest,” said Des. It is believed the match was played at Grosvenor Park in Belfast, which was home to the Distillery football team. Now called Lisburn Distillery Football Club, its secretary Colin Hopkins told the BBC the two women’s teams that they hosted in 1917 were named the North of Ireland Ladies and the Tyneside Ladies. “There was no Northern Ireland then, it was all one country so the name of the Irish team suggests that the players were all from Belfast and surrounding districts”, he said. Women’s football was hugely popular back then but sadly that all stopped in 1921 when the FA banned women playing football at the end of 1921.