Lioness hero Ellen White was banned from football aged 9 as front-page article resurfaces

A 1998 edition of The Bucks Herald reported on the news that a then nine-year-old Ellen White had been banned from playing football, 24 years before winning the Euros

18:15, 01 Aug 2022

Ellen White was banned from playing football at the age of nine

Lionesses hero Ellen White was banned from playing football aged nine as a front-page article resurfaces on social media.

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Now 33, White started up front for England against Germany at Wembley Stadium on Sunday as they won the Euros for the very first time. However, back in 1998, she was prevented from playing in a local league for boys despite the fact she was already a member of Arsenal's girls academy.

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The front-page of The Bucks Herald from September 23 1998 has been unearthed and appeared on social media since England's Euros triumph, showing White looking glum and playing football in a Gunners kit.

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On the cover is the story of her football ban, with the headline “Soccer girl banned by league for boys”. A snippet from the article also reads: “Ellen is only nine and can’t fathom out why she can’t play football."

White, who hails from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, had joined Arsenal's academy a year prior after playing for her dad's soccer academy as a child.

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The Bucks Herald also reported in 2019 that White had to play for the boys team when she attended The Grange School in Aylesbury as they did not have a girls' football team at the time.

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An unearthed newspaper front-page shows the story of Ellen White's football ban

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One of her former teachers explained in the report: “At the time Ellen was at the school we did not have girls football on the curriculum, but she was always playing football with the boys and loved all her sports."

Having left Arsenal aged 16 to join Chelsea, White has since gone on to star for a host of clubs, including a return to Arsenal, Notts County and Manchester City, her current side.

She has also won 113 caps for her country and scored 52 international goals, each accompanied by her trademark goggles celebration.

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A veteran of six major tournaments with England, and two Olympic Games, White scored twice during England's run to the trophy, with both coming in the 8-0 thrashing of Norway in the group stage.

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