Inside the 'Secret World Cup' where England were blacklisted and 'no one wants to know'

Copa 71 is a story of women's football that is miles away from the one we know today.

The rise of the WSL and the Lionesses of Sarina Wegman has seen the likes of Chloe Kelly, Leah Williamson and Mary Earps become household names.

But in 1971, with women's football banned by the FA, England's Lionesses were forced to compete in the Women's World Cup in secret.

For years, nothing was known about the event in Mexico, as the FA moved to ban all women participating in the tournament from playing football and the press did not care to cover it.

But the story of the tournament is about to be thrust into the spotlight thanks to a new documentary produced by Venus and Serena Williams called Cuba 71.

In it we find out how a 60-year-old bus driver from Luton called Harry Butt assembled an English team to compete in the secret tournament.

Pat found players by scouting the courts and parks, and was able to gather 14 talented players to travel to the tournament in Mexico.

While there was nothing about this in the British press at the time, the women who participated in the tournament spoke about their experiences with their country's national team. The Sunday Times.

Trudy McCaffrey, 69, Carol Wilson, 72, and Chris Lockwood, 67, said they are treated like celebrities in Mexico, where photographers follow their every move and the team is invited to lavish parties at foreign embassies.

Lockwood spoke of how the tournament was revitalizing for Mexico and described “all the little kids wanting autographs.”

Although England was eliminated from the group stage, this did not affect the team’s experience, as Lockwood said: “At the end, two children came with a drawing drawn with crayons that said: ‘I may have lost the match, but I won the heart of Mexico.’”

Instead of returning home, the Lionesses were invited to stay in Mexico until the final. “We were invited to a cocktail party at the British Embassy – it was a big event,” says Wilson, who was 19 and able to drink.

“I remember seeing Leah [Caleb, the youngest member of the squad] She was reaching for the drinks tray, and she was only 13 years old!

But the story takes a sad turn when McCaffrey described the team as “coming home to nothingness” when they returned to England.

“Just a few weeks ago, we were playing football in a packed stadium,” she said. “No one wanted to know.” “It was strange.”

FA director Harry Butt has been banned for life and all women for between three and 12 months from playing football.

The shame of being ostracized by the FA led to the team losing touch with him. “I think because it was banned, it made us feel like we did something wrong,” McCaffrey says.

“Not long ago, I was about to throw away my stuff [souvenirs from the tournament] far. I thought, who is interested in this? “It doesn't mean anything to anyone.”

The team was not reunited until 47 years later after Lockwood, McCaffery and Wilson went on BBC Radio 4 and The One Show to put out a call to reunite the team.

The documentary also features interviews with women from the Danish, Mexican and Italian bands, many of whom needed a lot of convincing to speak on the record.

“The women were shocked,” said Rachel Ramsay, co-director of Copa 71. “The shame they felt was so intense. Many of them did not even tell their families that they were participating.”

As well as highlighting the England team, the documentary highlights how the development of women's football has been affected by the ban on women playing football in many countries.

With national teams becoming superstars in Mexico, the final match at the Estadio Azteca was sold out, attended by 112,500 spectators.

Although this is the highest attendance ever recorded for a women's football match, FIFA has only recently officially recognized this as the tournament has not been officially sanctioned.

England international Jan Eames, mother of badminton star Gail, told The Sun last year that she was thrilled to see the England Lionesses reach the final of the Women's World Cup, this time in a FIFA-sanctioned tournament.

“This World Cup final is the ultimate proof of what we have done,” she said.

“All 14 of us are still alive and can see this happening. Never in our wildest dreams did we think England Women would reach the World Cup final.