Kicking Back (Welcome)

Editor Jen O’Neill’s anniversary welcome, asking whether celebrating twenty years so indulgently is justified and answering that anyone involved in the women’s game across two decades will know what stubborn staying power, teamwork and love of the game it has taken given the sport’s lack of resources. She explains the approach taken: old mixed with new, hours spent reading back issues far too close to deadline, and an acceptance that only a fraction of what they wanted could be crammed in. She apologises in advance for omissions and for the issue being shamefully Anglocentric, not by design but through necessity, and says they nearly wrote a history of the twenty years but chose instead to hint at the landscape and celebrate characters, teams and matches. Sue Lopez MBE and Dr Colin Aldis are among many thanked.