Within the ‘secret World Cup’, where the English team was blacklisted from football

COPA 71 is the story of women’s football, miles away from current football.

The rise of the WSL and Sarina Wiegman’s lionesses have made people like Chloe Kelly, Leah Williamson and Mary Earps household names.

Manager Harry Batt was banned from football for life for taking the Lionesses to a World Cup in 1971Credit: Mirrorpix

The team became celebrities during their time in MexicoCredit: Mirrorpix

They were harassed all over MexicoCredit: Mirrorpix

But in 1971, when women’s football was banned by the FA, England’s Lionesses were forced to secretly participate in a Women’s World Cup.

For years nothing was known about the event in Mexico, with the FA deciding to ban all women involved in the tournament from football and the press not interested in covering it.

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

In it we discover how a 60-year-old bus conductor from Luton named Harry Batt gathered a team from England to take part in the secret tournament.

Batt found players by scouting playing fields and parks and managed to round up fourteen talented female players to fly to the tournament in Mexico.

Although there was nothing about it in the British press at the time, the women who played in the tournament spoke about the experience with the Sunday Times.

Trudy McAffrey, 69, Carol Wilson, 72, and Chris Lockwood, 67, said they were treated like celebrities in Mexico – with paparazzi following their every move and the team invited to lavish parties at foreign embassies.

Lockwood talked about how the tournament energized Mexico and described “all the young kids wanting autographs.”

McAffrey considered throwing away all her souvenirs from the tournament, including this photo, out of shame at the banCredit: Mirrorpix

The team was invited to embassies in Mexico during the tournamentCredit: Mirrorpix

It was the first time that many team members had traveled outside EnglandCredit: Mirrorpix

Although England were knocked out in the group stage, this did not detract from the side’s experience, with Lockwood saying: “At the end two children came with a plaque drawn in chalk which said: ‘You may have lost the match, but you conquered the heart of Mexico.”

Instead of flying home, the lionesses were invited to stay in Mexico until the finals. “We were invited to a cocktail party at the British Embassy – it was a grand affair,” says Wilson, who was 19 and could drink. ‘I still remember. See Leah [Caleb, the youngest member of the squad] She reached for the drinks tray – she was only 13!

But the story takes a sad turn when McAffrey described the team ‘coming home to nothing’ when they returned to England.

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

The FA blacklisted manager Harry Batt for life and all women were banned from playing football for between three months and 12 months.

The embarrassment of being shunned by the FA led to the team losing contact. “I think because it was banned, it felt like we did something wrong,” McCaffery says. “Not too long ago, I was close to just throwing my stuff away [souvenirs from the tournament] away. I thought: who would be interested in this? It doesn’t mean anything to anyone.”

It was not until 47 years later that the team was reunited after Lockwood, McCaffery and Wilson launched a call for the team to be reunited on BBC Radio 4 and The One Show.

The documentary also interviews women from the Danish, Mexican and Italian teams, with many of them requiring a lot of convincing to speak on the record.

Copa 71 co-director Rachel Ramsay said: “The women were traumatised. The shame they felt was so intense. Many of them had not even told their families that they had taken part.”

Wherever they went in Mexico, players were asked for autographsCredit: Mirrorpix

But described how he returned to 'nothingness' in England — But described how he returned to ‘nothingness’ in EnglandCredit: Mirrorpix

Jan Emms talked about her pride when she saw the Lionesses reach the World Cup final for women last year — Jan Emms talked about her pride when she saw the Lionesses reach the final of the Women’s Football World Cup last yearCredit: Arfa Griffiths – The Sun

The documentary not only shines a light on the England team, but also highlights how much the development of women’s football has been hampered by a ban on women playing football in several countries.

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

Despite this being the highest ever attendance for a women’s football match, FIFA only recently officially recognized this as the tournament was not officially sanctioned.

One of the members of the England squad, Jan Emms, the mother of badminton star Gail, told the Sun last year that she was full of joy when she saw the England Lionesses reach the final of the Women’s World Cup, this time in a FIFA sanctioned competition.

She said: “This World Cup final is the ultimate vindication of what we have done.”

“All fourteen of us are still alive and can see this happening. We never in our wildest dreams imagined that an England women’s team would reach a World Cup final.”