The earliest known footage of a women's football match has been discovered, and shows Dartford's Vickers Ladies FC playing more than 100 years ago.

Filmed during the final months of the First World War on April 20, 1918, the footage shows the Dartford side playing in Southend, Essex, against Dagenham side Sterling Ladies FC - nicknamed ‘The Invincibles’ for their undefeated campaigns between 1917-1919.

Released to mark 50 years since the England Women’s Football team, The Lionesses, played their first match, the silent footage comes from a 1918 newsreel belonging to French film company Gaumont.

It was found in the archives of The National Library of Norway Patrick Brennan - author of The Munitionettes: A History of Women's Football in North East England During the Great War - who then worked with Swedish firm Spiideo to verify its status as the UK's oldest known footage of women's football.

The 41-second video shows the sides making their way onto the pitch, watched by large crowds of servicemen, some recovering from wounds, before the referee tosses a coin and kicks the ball to get the match underway. It goes on to show the side's trading touches before Sterling Ladies, wearing the darker two-tone kit, press forward on the opposition goal and score.

The match was also covered by British newspaper The Sportsman, in its edition on Tuesday, April 23 1918.

It reads: “Played on behalf of the three war hospitals at Southend, the meeting of the undefeated teams, Sterling (Dagenham) and Vickers (Crayford and Dartford), attracting several thousand spectators to Chalkwell Park on Saturday. Both sides played hard to maintain their untarnished season record, and after an exciting game a draw of two goals each enabled them to do so.

"A feature of the game was the goalkeeping of Dunn for Vickers. The Dagenham team opened the scoring through A. Tennyson. Vickers drew level by means of an opponent putting through her own goal, shortly after which O. Wood gave the Kentish team the lead. Just before the interval Sterling got on terms again, A. Tennyson finding the net.

"In the second half, despite the determination of the rivals, all efforts to increase their scores were frustrated, the game ending as stated.

Teams:

STERLING LADIES: G. Fairman; T. Peters and V. Foster: V. Hale, M. Reader and M. Billett; A. Segger. A Tennyson, Maud Smith; A. Dixie (capt.) and A. Fairman.

VICKERS LADIES: E. Dunn; R. Barber and B. Mundy; K. Prescott, H. Holdes, and M. Potley; R. Colvin, W. Prescott, O. Wood, A. Falence, and M. Hocking (capt.).”

Prior to the match, the women's game had been developing since a number of teams sprung up throughout the 1890s, with Preston-based Dick Kerr Ladies Team dominating the women’s game for the first few decades of the twentieth century.

During WW1, women had been drafted into factory assembly lines - and as a way of keeping fit were encouraged to play sport. This led to the foundation of women’s amateur football leagues, and with the professional men's leagues postponed during the war, women’s football became increasingly popular.

Vickers engineering firm was one such employer, and the Vickers Ladies' team all worked in the factory at Dartford, while other Vickers sides were based at Barrow-in-Furness and Birmingham.

In 1921, the Football Association prohibited women from playing in stadiums, effectively ending the women’s professional game. It wasn’t until 1971 that the ban was lifted, with the England playing their first game against Scotland, in 1972.

Lisa Berg, Sales Development Manager at Spiideo and Scout for the Mexican national women's team, said: "Almost 100 years after this first footage, we're still trying to bring the game of football to women around the world. I’ve been developing women’s football on 5 different continents and all-too-often the pioneering achievements of women are erased or forgotten from history. Even in 2022, I question why it is so difficult to find high quality broadcasts of women’s football. Access to women’s football is crucial for it to grow and develop.

"In publicising this footage, we are anchoring the incredible history of women’s football, from its grassroots origins at the end of the nineteenth century to its massive popularity and global appeal today."