Houghton reflects on upset and anger as talkSPORT remembers women's football ban

That ban remained in place until 1970 and in recent years, the women's game has gone to a whole new level in this country, with the UK now having a fully professional league in the form of the WSL, which is covered extensively by the likes of Sky, BBC, as well as talkSPORT.

While many were forced to give up playing football when the ban was introduced in 1921, some teams carried on and are, consequently, responsible for the fact that women have the opportunity to play professional football in this country today.

Dick Kerr Ladies and Manchester Corinthians were two of the most influential teams who carried on playing during the ban, competing in matches at greyhound stadiums or on rugby pitches or in parks when the ban was in force.

They would go on tours abroad to help grow the women's game internationally as well and both teams also raised extensive money for charity, with former footballer Gail Newsham telling talkSPORT that Dick Kerr Ladies raised the equivalent of £10m through their matches.

Those teams, along with Patricia Gregory - who set up the inaugural Women's FA and lobbied the FA to get the ban overturned - played an integral role in the game's development today.

England and Man City captain Steph Houghton is now widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the women's game, in a career which has seen her lift the WSL on three occasions.

And the role of those before isn't lost on Houghton, who is incredibly grateful for their efforts.

"First and foremost, [I would say] thank you, I think that's the most important thing," Houghton told talkSPORT.

"We maybe don't talk about how thankful we should be and how lucky we are to be in the position we are [today]. I know for a fact - and I probably speak for a lot of females I've played with for Man City and other clubs, but also the national team - that our sport has grown because that has happened and because people have actually tried to put women's football on the map and try to do things properly, similarly to the men.

"Just a massive thank you and hopefully, we can do them proud over the next few years.

"It makes me angry [and] it makes me upset that women were unable to do something they love and really enjoy doing. The thought of it happening in this century, it would be a disgrace.

"I think in the world that we live in, it's important that people are able to do what they love and in this case, those women were stopped doing what they really wanted to do, which was to play football."

As the game moves forward, Houghton is confident England can achieve something special at the European Championships on home turf next summer, a move which would undoubtedly propel the women's game to a whole new level.

Houghton is a role model to young girls who harbour hopes of following in her footsteps one day and she feels a good run from the Lionesses at next summer's Euros in the UK could help to boost the women's game even further.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT, Houghton said: "I think for me, this tournament is going to be unbelievable. There's been so much hard work behind the scenes [with] the stadiums we're going to be playing at. The amount of tickets I've heard that have been sold already is scary and that just shows what an important position we are in.

"From a Lionesses point of view, I think we have the following and the belief that we could do something special. Women's football is so popular in this country and everybody knows about the profile of certain players.

"With it being cancelled because of the pandemic, it was disappointing but it's given us another year to prepare and [we now have] the new manager [Sarina Wiegman] as well. For us as players, it's about trying to ignore the noise a little bit and concentrate on the performances and hopefully, that dream will come true.

"Ultimately, the coverage is massive. We've obviously had an improvement in that area and we've got to make sure that consistency is always there.

"I always say this, but it's more about the fans coming through the gates. If we want to compete and we want to be considered as one of the best sports in this country, we've got to get as many fans as we possibly can to games and to watch us at unbelievable stadiums. I think we're in a great position, but we can keep improving."

This Sunday on talkSPORT, we will mark the 100 year anniversary of the FA banning women's football with a series of special packages played throughout the day.