Film review: Copa 71 is an inspiring celebration of footballing pioneers

The film doesn’t neglect the dispiriting, century-old story of male attempts to suppress women’s football, but the emphasis is very much on what was achieved against all the odds.

Manager Harry Batt and the English women's football team in Mexico. Picture: Copa 71

According to FIFA, the first Women’s World Cup was officially played in the US in 1991, but Copa 71 (G) begs to differ.

A year after Brazil’s men won the 1970 World Cup at the Azteca Stadium before a crowd of 110,000, women’s teams from around the world arrived in Mexico, defying a FIFA ban and the institutionalised sexism of their Football Associations back home to play before adoring capacity crowds.