Women in Football trailblazer Purdon inspiring next generation

Purdon, who previously served as club secretary at her childhood club Sunderland, was celebrating the release of her book ‘The Homecoming: The Lionesses and Beyond’. 

The former Premier League lawyer was joined on stage by broadcaster and presenter Faye Carruthers to discuss her life and learnings at M&C Saatchi’s offices in Soho. 

Her book details how she was brought up in the north-east and was introduced to football by watching Sunderland at Roker Park alongside her father. 

Her journey through the game reached a crescendo last summer as the Lionesses soared to European glory, with Purdon one of the 87,192 fans cheering on at Wembley. 

‘The Homecoming’ also details what should happen next for the women’s game, with Purdon able to shed light on how far women’s football has come. 

And Purdon, speaking ahead of this summer’s hotly-anticipated World Cup in Australia, said: “‘The Homecoming: the Lionesses and Beyond celebrates the Lionesses’ triumph at last summer’s Euros. 

“We’ve now got another huge tournament to look forward to, as we’re only weeks away from the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. 

“The Lionesses’ squad for the tournament has been announced, and there’s a lot to be excited about.”

The former UK Sport Head of Governance revealed how she created what is believed to be the first fanzine in England dedicated to women’s football – ‘Born Kicking’, which she ran for a limited time in the 1990s. 

Purdon expressed her hopes of producing a special anniversary edition, with articles written by some of the aspiring writers in the room who were also invited to attend a free workshop with Purdon, who holds a Masters in creative writing. 

Details of this will be shared by WIF in the coming weeks, with Purdon determined to help the Women in Football community specifically and encourage people who are interested in signing up to follow Women in Football’s social media channels.

Attendees were given plenty of inspiration as they also heard from four well-established writers, including the Guardian’s Suzy Wrack who recently won The Vikki Orvice Award for New Women’s Sports Writing at The Sunday Times Sports Book Awards. 

Wrack was joined by the husband of the late Vikki Orvice, Ian Ridley who also served as Purdon’s publisher through his publishing house, Floodlit Dreams, in partnership with Pitch Publishing as part of their  ‘football shorts’ series.

Ridley is also an author himself, ghostwriting Arsenal legend Tony Adams’ autobiography before moving into crime writing. 

Freelance journalist and broadcaster Flo Lloyd-Hughes spoke about writing her first book, ‘The Rise of the Lionesses: Incredible Moments from Women’s Football’ which will be released in June. 

The final member of the panel was The Sun’s Sandra Brobbey, who talked about her career change from working in the charity sector to becoming the second recipient of SunSport’s Vikki Orvice Scholarship, also shining a light on what it is like writing to a deadline and word count. 

Hughes and Wrack described their differing experiences with writing their debut books, both expressing the importance of supportive publishers, while all four panellists gave advice on how to start writing a book or long-form article.

England are hoping to emulate last summer’s Euro 2022 triumph Down Under and go even further than their heartbreaking semi-final defeat against the USA in France four years ago.

Sarina Wiegman named her 23-player squad for the tournament this week and Purdon added: “While it’s sad that Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Fran Kirby haven’t recovered from their injuries in time to make the cut, Millie Bright is back after her injury and will make a fantastic captain. 

“Jordan Nobbs goes to her first major tournament since 2017 and six players are going to their first tournament ever – including the extremely talented Lauren James. 

“We’ll also see Rachel Daly move from left back to up front – and after the golden boot-winning season she’s had at Aston Villa, England shouldn’t be short of goals.’”