'Unique piece of women's football history' restored

Chris Shaw, Gail Newsham and Sonnaz Nooranvary in the famous Repair Shop barn [BBC/Ricochet Ltd] A women's football historian who had a scrapbook repaired on BBC One's The Repair Shop said it was "the most wonderful experience of my life". Gail Newsham visited the barn with her scrapbook of newspaper cuttings, photographs and letters from 1917, compiled by Alfred Frankland who was manager of the Dick, Kerr Ladies football team. The team got its name from the munitions factory in Preston, Lancashire, where most of the team worked during World War One - and chalked up more than 200 games without defeat.

"They are the most important team in the history of women's football," Gail said. "They weren't the first, but they were the best. " Book restorer Chris Shaw said repairing the scrapbook was "a fascinating delve into the women's achievements" [BBC/Ricochet Ltd] Dick, Kerr Ladies was founded at Dick, Kerr & Co.

munitions factory in 1917 to raise money for wounded soldiers. They raised £600 in their first game on Christmas Day that year, which took place at Preston North End's Deepdale ground before 10,000 spectators. Newsham's unique scrapbook was given to her by former manager Kathleen Latham and charts "the origin of the Dick Kerr's Ladies", she told BBC Radio Lancashire .

"I was a football lass myself," she said. "As soon as I could walk I was kicking a ball about and I grew up in the same streets that they did and somebody had to tell their story before it was too late. " She said the book was "a unique piece of women's football history", but it had got to the point where she was "scared of touching it".