Edna Neillis (15 April 1953 – 13 July 2015) was a Scottish

women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries and 176 national t ...

player, who represented the Scottish women's football team and played in the French and Italian championships. Neillis was born in Glasgow, and raised in the east of the city, playing football in the streets as a child and for Ruchazie boys' team. She went on to play with Westthorn United, a women's team based in Glasgow. She earned her first cap with the Scotland national team as a teenager and played in the team's first international match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1972. Previously, women's football was banned for over 50 years. Neillis and her teammate Rose Reilly received a lifetime ban by the

Scottish FA The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for ...

after speaking out against the national team's amateur-level coach in 1975. She continued to play professionally in Italy.

Honors and awards

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

title: 1975 (with Milan) *

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

(3): 1975, 1976 (with Milan); 1980 (with Gorgonzola) *Inducted into

Scottish Women in Sport Hall of Fame The Scottish Women in Sport Hall of Fame, launched in 2018, is an award to recognize and honour Scottish female athletes who have made an outstanding contribution to Scottish sport, including women in their day who are considered pioneers in thei ...

in 2018.

In popular culture

In 2013, Neillis was featured in the BBC documentary ''Honeyballers'', focused on the pioneers of Scottish women's football. In December 2015, a motion to induct Neillis into the

Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...

was proposed.

References

External links

Edna Neillis Recognised at Art Exhibition
Scottish women's footballers Scotland women's international footballers 2015 deaths 1953 births Expatriate women's footballers in Italy Serie A (women's football) players Scottish expatriate women's footballers Women's association football forwards Stade de Reims Féminines players Expatriate women's footballers in France Scottish expatriate sportspeople in France Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Footballers from Glasgow ACF Milan players {{Scotland-women-footy-bio-stub