She Reads: Carrie Dunn

Author Carrie Dunn previews her new book Flying the Flag: The Footballing Heroines of the Home Nations Who Made History Abroad, spotlighting British women who built playing careers overseas long before the modern game’s visibility and wages existed. Dunn traces trailblazers including Rose Reilly and her lesser-known compatriot Edna Neillis, who forged footballing lives in 1970s and ’80s Europe; Vanessa O’Brien, scorer of Wales’ first official goal, now driving grassroots growth in Australia; and Jeannie Allott, who left England’s inaugural 1972 international side behind to build a career and a life in the Netherlands. Set against the FA’s historic ban on women’s football and the underground tournaments like Copa ’71 that defied it, the piece offers essential context for today’s globetrotting stars such as Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway, ahead of the book’s June release.