This post will be updated as and when new information about Minnie is discovered, and has primarily been written as a record for the Seed family.
It was last updated on 29/3/2021, the hundredth anniversary of Minnie's appearance for an 'English Girls' side in an international testimonial match against Ireland, held at Windsor Park, Belfast.
Minnie's selection for this match was uncovered by Alex Jackson of The National Football Museum and is detailed here on the Playing Pasts website.
I've added links to source websites and books where appropriate, and have tried to credit photos when the © is known.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTRODUCTION
I had always been aware that Minnie Seed was the youngest of the Seed siblings because of this photo that had pride of place in a family album; but that was literally all I knew about her. Taken around the turn of the century it shows all ten siblings with their parents, dressed up in their finest, with Minnie bottom right. Sadly I never had a chance to meet great aunt Minnie as she died eight years before I was born.
But in 2015 I received a message out of the blue on social media containing the revelation that Minnie had been a munitionette footballer during the First World War. None of the surviving family seemed to know anything about it. My mum's best friend Jean Montgomerie, daughter of the Charlton team doctor, who remembered one of Jimmy's sisters being a footballer, thought it had been older sister Maggie, rather than Minnie, when we asked her about it recently.
However, in my search for information about Minnie I was lucky enough to be helped at an early stage by Patrick Brennan owner of the Donmouth website, a real treasure trove of information about the Munitionettes. He sent me a database of all the matches Minnie is known to have played in, which became an invaluable framework for future research. [Patrick also wrote an excellent book The Munitionettes: A History of Women's Football in North East England During the Great War.]
While statistical information was very useful, in a way it only heightened my need to find out more about Minnie the person, a process that continues to this day.
I'm cautiously optimistic that more information will yet come to light both from these sources, and also perhaps from descendants of the extended Seed family with whom I've recently made contact. When and if we find out more I'll post the info here, but here's what I've discovered so far:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1900: Minnie aged two and Jimmy aged four
Back home the munitionette football phenomenon had begun when the newly recruited factory girls started having kickabouts during their lunchbreaks, to let off steam. Deemed to be good for the health and wellbeing of the girls these kickabouts were encouraged by management and gradually, as the girls improved their skills, works teams were formed and regular inter-company matches were organised. These evolved into the charity fundraising regional matches that really began to capture the imagination of the public.
One of the lucky ones to survive from that group, Jimmy was sent home to convalesce after a two-week hospitalisation in Belgium, but it's unclear whether he was hospitalised in England as well, or was able to go home to Whitburn to recover. Either way, it would be a full thirteen months before he was well enough to return to action, such was the severity of the damage to his lungs.
His 1915 Army enrolment documents show his address as Hedworth Terrace, Whitburn, just fifty yards from Adolphus Street, meaning either the whole family had moved or perhaps less likely Jimmy had fled the nest?
An elder sister, Jessie, had married in the same year, so would almost certainly have left home to set up a new one with her husband; meaning one less mouth for Jimmy's parents to feed and more space for those siblings left behind. So Jimmy would have been under the same roof as Minnie, as and when he returned home, and fully aware of her footballing progress.
Next up were appearances for Durham, Wearside Munitionettes and Blyth Spartans Munition Ladies, where Minnie teamed up again with Bella. Held at St James' Park, a ground that even Jimmy hadn't yet played at, the match raised funds for the Alnwick branch of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Soldiers and Sailors.
It's not known if Jimmy attended any of these munitionettes matches, or even whether he approved of women's football. Victorian values were still very prevalent in much of society at that time, with many men feeling it was unseemly for women to be exposing their 'vulnerable' bodies to such arduous physical exertions, even some doctors believing that it was likely to damage their reproductive organs, and affect their fertility, with much debate in the press at the time.
Unfortunately the 'Spanish' Flu outbreak meant that a reduced crowd of 10,000 spectators witnessed the Palmers side securing the Cup in a tense 1-0 win over 'Browns'. The whereabouts of Minnie's gold medal is unknown.
Donmouth has more:
'The Munitionettes' Cup managed to run to completion, although in the latter stages guest players from other teams were drafted in to create more interest and attract larger crowds. The winners were a combined team from Palmers Jarrow and Hebburn Works, who included three top-class guest players - Bella Reay from Blyth Spartans, Bella Willis from Armstrong-Whitworths and Minnie Seed from Gosforth Aviation. They disposed of Hood Haggies Girls 4-0 on 23rd November, and Armstrong-Whitworths 4-1 on 8th February. This latter match was played at St James's Park, and Palmers' star player was Bella Reay, who scored a hat-trick. In the semi-final on 2nd March Palmers met another local team, Foster, Blackett and Wilson's, led by Palmers' former goalkeeper, Maggie Scott. In a keenly contested game Palmers emerged the winners by the odd goal in five.
The final, in which Palmer's met Brown's of West Hartlepool, was contested on a snow-covered St. James's Park on 22nd March 1919, in front of 10,000 spectators. Brown's also had a guest player in their line-up - the redoubtable Winnie McKenna of Bolckow, Vaughans. She was unable to prevent Palmers winning 1-0, the goal being scored by Bella Reay, who together with Mary Lyons achieved the distinction of being the only double winners of the Munitionettes' Cup in its short history. (At the same time Winnie McKenna became the only double winner of a runners-up medal)'
Another highlight for Minnie was turning out for 'Newcastle Girls' (actually a team made up of girls from the North and the North East) in two matches against the previously undefeated Dick, Kerr Ladies. The first, on 8 March in front of 5,000 fans at Deepdale produced a 1-0 win for Dick, Kerr Ladies and raised £179 for charity.
On 22 April 1919 a crowd of around 30,000 (the deadly Spanish flu was beginning to peter out by then) packed into St James' Park for the return match. The Northern Girls, again including Bella Reay and Mary Lyons, held out for a creditable nil-nil draw. Fortunately for the Newcastle Girls side the great Lily Parr hadn't yet joined the Dick, Kerr Ladies, being only 13 or 14 at the time.
May 1919 saw Minnie playing for Tyneside Ladies at Ayresome Park in a 1-1 draw with Teesside Ladies, and this was followed by a derby double in which Minnie captained Sunderland against Newcastle. The first, played at Roker Park, resulted in a 4-1 win for the Geordies in front of a crowd of 10,000, raising £436 for the Haverfield Serbian Distress Fund. The return fixture was held on 31 May in front of 9,000 at St James' Park and didn't go any better for Minnie and the Mackems, the Newcastle girls triumphing 4-0. On this occasion the beneficiary was the Newcastle (Central) Division of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Meanwhile, by summer Jimmy's health was clearly on the mend as he was playing cricket for Whitburn, which must have been a tremendous boost to his morale as well as to his fitness. The J. Seed that appears in the photo of the Whitburn First XI [left] was soon to receive the letter that would change his life. Mid Rhondda FC had written to Sunderland to enquire about his availability, and the club passed the letter on to him. He claims he ran the two and a half miles home to Whitburn (another sign of his improving fitness) and threw his only suit into his suitcase. He travelled to Wales by train the next day and before long the news of his signing appeared in the local paper:
'J. Seed, formerly of the Sunderland Club, has signed on for Mid Rhondda.' [Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette 14 July 1919]
The contest took place on 29 March 1921 and was billed as a Testimonial for Diana Scott, a leading light in Northern Irish women's football during WW1.
The English Girls won 3-2, Mary Lyons scoring two of the English side's goals.
(The National Football Museum's Dr Alex Jackson tells the full story on the Playing Pasts website.)
Very sadly, the death of Minnie MJ Quayle, aged just 51, was registered in the December quarter of 1948 in Barnsley.
Her son Thomas had married a Mary Crofts there in March of the same year. To add to the Barnsley/Seed connection, Angus Seed was at that time the manager of Barnsley FC, and he also died in Barnsley, in 1953.
At the time of her death Minnie was listed as being a resident of the White Hart Hotel, Barnsley and she passed away at Barnsley's Beckett Hospital, leaving an estate of £150 to
The 1911 census recorded the Seed family living in Adolphus Street, Whitburn, but by then only four children remained at home: Jessie, Angus, Jimmy and Minnie. Jimmy signed for Sunderland in April 1914 on a summer wage of £1 a week, the equivalent of £120 today.
 |
| Hedworth Terrace |
An elder sister, Jessie, had married in the same year, so would almost certainly have left home to set up a new one with her husband; meaning one less mouth for Jimmy's parents to feed and more space for those siblings left behind. So Jimmy would have been under the same roof as Minnie, as and when he returned home, and fully aware of her footballing progress.
Up to this point she had played only in low-key works games, but a couple of months after Jimmy's return Minnie was due to step up a level with her first appearance in a representative side. As it turns out this 20 October 1917 Munitionette's Cup first round tie between her 'Aviation Girls' and Blyth Spartans was cancelled at the last minute because the organisers found the military, not yet aware of the benefits of the women's game, unwilling to sanction it. But Minnie's selection suggests she was well thought of, as she was selected from several works teams to represent all the Munitionettes working in aviation in the region.
Her breakthrough was cemented when in February she was twice selected to represent 'Tyneside Munitionettes' against 'Teesside Munitionettes'. She qualified to play for the Geordie girls despite growing up in Whitburn (Mackem territory) by dint of the fact that Gosforth Aviation was a Tyneside company. Alongside Minnie in both fixtures was one of the legends of women's football, Blyth Spartan's Bella Reay.
June saw Minnie turning out for 'Walker Naval Yard', and in her next few regional matches, including three for 'North of England' she was listed as Minnie Seed (Armstrong's Naval Yard) or (Naval Yard). Whether Minnie was now working in the shipbuilding industry, or was merely poached by their football team, isn't clear, but both Walker Naval Yard and Gosforth Aviation were Armstrong owned, so either is possible. The practice of poaching players was quite common amongst the more ambitious clubs, with Palmers and Dick, Kerr Ladies in particular taking advantage of the practice.
Bella Reay featured in several of these games, sometimes as a teammate but quite often as an opponent, scoring all three goals for Blyth Spartans in a 3-0 defeat of Walker Naval Yard, followed by both goals in a 2-0 win against Minnie's North of England. A local newspaper covered the match:
'The game got off to a sensational start, Bella Reay charging through on her own and scoring within the first few seconds with a well-hit drive. The stunned North of England team rallied and worked hard through the remainder of the first half to get an equaliser, but several promising runs by Minnie Seed, the Sunderland international, failed due to her holding on to the ball too long.' (More about Minnie's status as an 'international' later.)Out of the 31 matches that Minnie is known to have played in, Bella Reay featured in 20, thirteen of those as a teammate. [Read more about Bella Reay here.]
Many, if not all of these representative matches were charity fundraisers and they proved extremely popular both with spectators and with a press searching for good news stories to lighten the Great War gloom. The higher profile regional fixtures were played at some of the biggest football league grounds in the country and large sums of money were raised for various disabled servicemen charities.
But it is clear that much of the initial public interest was based on novelty value and perhaps, for some, the prurient value of watching relatively scantily clad young ladies charging around a muddy football pitch. And yes, some may have turned up to mock their efforts, but unquestionably the standard of football on display though initially poor, improved exponentially with time, as reflected in press articles of the era. Rather than drifting away, as they might have done had this been merely a curiosity, the crowds actually grew as the product on show improved and new stars were created. Yes, men had the advantage of physical strength and speed, but they also benefitted from the fact that many had played football from a very early age in school, and those that were keen would have kickabouts in the streets or in parks and might also play for the local village, as Jimmy did, when old enough. Girls certainly weren't encouraged to get involved, and to some extent, still aren't today.
So the majority of those munitionette footballers would have been learning the game from scratch, and it's no wonder their skills may have been a little lacking early on, the game being described as 'kick and rush' in early reports. It's notable that those who had learned the game at an early age, often by kicking a ball around with their brothers had a distinct advantage over those that hadn't. This, according to Gail Newsham, was the case with a fair few of the Kerr Ladies team. Minnie, having two brothers who went on to play the game professionally, may well have benefitted herself from some sort of filial support.
The famous Dick, Kerr Ladies seen here in their striped jerseys.
In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked on a something shocking.
Families were often divided over the issue with Molly Walker of Dick, Kerr Ladies being 'treated as an outcast by her boyfriend's family because of their disapproval of her wearing shorts and showing her legs'. [From In A League Of Their Own by Gail J Newsham].
In some of the earlier matches it wasn't unheard of for the women to receive catcalls, and even more extreme verbal abuse. On one occasion there was even a pitch invasion, and the women had to take refuge in their team bus after some of them were harassed and jostled by the encroaching crowd. So it isn't a given than the rest of the Seed family saw eye to eye with Minnie over the issue of women's football.
The records show that while Jimmy was fighting in north west France Minnie played in three more notable matches:
'In the last month of the war I was among a crowd of Tommies to get gassed. I was sent home to Sheffield Hospital. I made a good recovery but was ordered a few months' convalescence at a health resort [in Wigan!].
The war was now over, and Sunderland were playing in the Victory League. I had already called at Roker Park before going on convalescence, and then by coincidence I met the team en route for a match against Durham City. They were a man short and manager Bob Kyle asked me to help them out -at centre forward!'
The RokerPark.com website: 'In recognition of The Armistice, 11 November 1918, the Victory League was formed. This basically involved friendly fixtures against local teams such as South Shields, Middlesbrough, Durham City and Scotswood. It commenced in January 1919 and expired April 1919.
Sunderland's first game was at the University Ground against Durham City on 11 January, and ended in defeat.'
As Jimmy describes in a newspaper interview in the nineteen sixties: "I had a shocker."
Of course, he shouldn't have been anywhere near a football pitch at that time.
The article continues:
"Major Prior, one of the directors, who was also the club doctor called me in to see them later, and the major said: 'No man who has been through two gassings is good for top-class football. Forget the game, sonny. Have a rest, and then start back in the pits. That way you will stay fairly healthy and not strain your body.'
"For a brief while before going into the Army I had sampled the life of a professional footballer," he told me. "I liked it much better than the pits. Those words of the Sunderland directors seemed almost savage at the time."
'Now I felt bitter for the first time in my life. I was twenty-three, suspect in health and, worst of all, unwanted at Sunderland.' [-JSS]
So Jimmy's life had been turned upside down and his lifetime dream of playing for the club he supported as a boy appeared shattered. The newspaper article continues:
'For a while Seed pottered about in Whitburn doing a bit of labouring and playing with the kids among the slag heaps to get himself fit.'
Meanwhile Minnie continued to play some quite high profile matches in front of big crowds. On 2 November, just days after Jimmy's return from France she turned out in the first of three consecutive matches for the Tyneside Munitionettes, on this occasion against their local rivals, the Teesside Munitionettes.
The database kindly supplied by the Donmouth website gives the following details:
Tyneside 3 Whitehaven 0
Played at St James' Park before 18,000 spectators Tyneside fielded a strong line-up including Minnie alongside Bella Reay and Mary Lyons up front.
This was the first defeat for the Whitehaven team whose previous record was played 25, won 23, drawn 2.
Scorers: Dorrian, McKenna, Lyons
Tyneside: Sarah Atkinson (N.U.T., South Benwell), Grace Battista (A. W. & Co.), Lizzie Gibson (Palmers), Bella Willis (A. W. & Co. and Prudhoe), Cissie Short (A. W. & Co.), Lizzie Form (Palmers), Mary Dorrian (Brown's West Hartlepool), Winnie McKenna (South Bank), Bella Reay (Blyth Spartans), Mary Lyons (Palmers), Minnie Seed (Sunderland).
In March 1919, while Jimmy was convalescing, Minnie pulled off one of her most notable achievements in winning the Munitionettes Cup. She had been poached by Palmer's who built a very strong team that again featured Minnie alongside Bella Reay and Mary Lyons in the forward line. Minnie scored a goal in the semi-final 3-2 victory over 'Foster, Blackett and Wilson's' which set up their place in the final at St James' Park.
The match was previewed in the Northern Daily Mail on Friday, March 21 1919
‘PALMER'S v. WEST HARTLEPOOL (BROWN'S).
The above teams will meet in the final tie for the Munitionettes Cup on Saturday first at St. James's Park, Newcastle.
Palmer's team includes Miss Bella Reay, Blyth Spartans' famous centre forward, who performed the "hat trick” in last season’s Cup final: Miss Bella Willis, of Armstrong-Whitworth's and Prudhoe. captain of Tyneside Ladies' team, and perhaps the best right half playing in this class of football: Miss Mary Lyons, a tricky 16-year-old player: and Miss Minnie Seed, of Gosforth Aviation and Naval Yard, a tricky left-winger.
Brown's eleven includes Miss Minnie McKenna (South Bank), Bolckow's prolific goal-scoring centre forward. and reputed to be the cleverest all-round lady footballer of the day: and Misses Nellie Kirk and Mary Derrian, the international right-wingers. All Brown's players keep their correct positions right through the game, and part with the ball to advantage every time.
This is the only Ladies' Cup in existence. As in men's cup-ties, the new ball that the match is played with will become the property of the player who captures it after the final whistle blows.
The cap and gold medals will be presented to the winning team after the match. Birtley St. Joseph's Silver Prize Band will render selections half-an-hour before the game commences, and also during the interval.
Judging by the reputation of the players and the interest taken in the game, last season’s record, when £651 was taken at the gates from 30,000 spectators, promises to be exceeded.’
Whether the Seeds approved of her footballing exploits or not Minnie and the munitionettes were raising funds for charities that helped cater to the needs of injured soldiers, like Jimmy. Minnie even played a couple of times for the famous Dick, Kerr Ladies who raised an estimated £10M (in today's money) for various war related charities. At many of the matches these war wounded were welcomed as special guests and excused the entry fee.
In July 1918,a few weeks before Jimmy's return to the front lines, Minnie was selected to represent the North of England against the West of Scotland alongside Bella Reay and another women's soccer legend, 14-year-old Mary Lyons, resulting in a 3-2 win for the English side.
This match is now considered by some authorities to be the second ever England women's international. According to a local press report from the time:
'Women's football had moved on from the days when crowds came to laugh at their efforts, and the game was described as "one of the best of its kind seen at Newcastle... the football was fairly fast and some really clever work was witnessed." The Scottish players in particular approached the game in a robust fashion, and one of their number had to be spoken to by the referee.’
Jimmy was by now close to being fit enough to resume military service. A victim of an 'ordinary' gas attack could expect to be returned to the front lines after an average of around 40 days recuperation, but mustard gas was a far more potent weapon, and it was almost thirteen months before Jimmy could return to the theatre of war, which he did on 28 August 1918. He later described having suffered 'periods of mental depression' during the war, relieved only by captaining 8th Battalion West Yorks in the football matches held behind the front lines. It was perhaps with trepidation he returned to the conflict, having been well looked after at home, and being fully aware this time of the conditions and dangers that awaited him in France.
The first of these was her 7 September appearance for a Durham select XI against a Northumberland team that included Bella Reay. Played at the Rockcliffe Ground, Monkseaton in aid of the local branch of the Comrades of the Great War the Durham girls ran out winners by three goals to nil.
This contest was followed by what is now considered by some authorities to be the third women's international, a 5-2 victory over Ireland featuring a Mary Lyons hattrick. This 21 September 1918 clipping from the Newcastle Daily Chronicle certainly bills it as a 'Ladies International match'. It was held at St James' Park in front of a disappointing 2,000 spectators, raising just £60 for the Lord Mayor's Relief Fund. The poor turnout may have been the result of the Spanish Flu epidemic that was sweeping through the country at the time.
Despite this, 12 October 1918 saw a repeat of the Durham v Northumberland contest. Once again Minnie played alongside Mary Lyons for Durham and Bella Reay featured for Northumberland, but this time the tables were turned as Northumberland ran out 1-0 winners. The match in aid of the local branch of the Comrades of the Great War was held at the Rockcliffe Ground, Monkseaton.
Just seven days later in Valenciennes in northern France not far from the border with Belgium, in the build up to the critical offensive that helped end the war, Jimmy was again to be the victim of a mustard gas attack, with the end of the war just three weeks away. Five days later he was evacuated from France to receive treatment in England.
From Jimmy's 1957 autobiography The Jimmy Seed Story:
The war was now over, and Sunderland were playing in the Victory League. I had already called at Roker Park before going on convalescence, and then by coincidence I met the team en route for a match against Durham City. They were a man short and manager Bob Kyle asked me to help them out -at centre forward!'
The RokerPark.com website: 'In recognition of The Armistice, 11 November 1918, the Victory League was formed. This basically involved friendly fixtures against local teams such as South Shields, Middlesbrough, Durham City and Scotswood. It commenced in January 1919 and expired April 1919.
Sunderland's first game was at the University Ground against Durham City on 11 January, and ended in defeat.'
As Jimmy describes in a newspaper interview in the nineteen sixties: "I had a shocker."
Of course, he shouldn't have been anywhere near a football pitch at that time.
The article continues:
"Major Prior, one of the directors, who was also the club doctor called me in to see them later, and the major said: 'No man who has been through two gassings is good for top-class football. Forget the game, sonny. Have a rest, and then start back in the pits. That way you will stay fairly healthy and not strain your body.'
"For a brief while before going into the Army I had sampled the life of a professional footballer," he told me. "I liked it much better than the pits. Those words of the Sunderland directors seemed almost savage at the time."
'Now I felt bitter for the first time in my life. I was twenty-three, suspect in health and, worst of all, unwanted at Sunderland.' [-JSS]
So Jimmy's life had been turned upside down and his lifetime dream of playing for the club he supported as a boy appeared shattered. The newspaper article continues:
'For a while Seed pottered about in Whitburn doing a bit of labouring and playing with the kids among the slag heaps to get himself fit.'
Another recently discovered article in a 1946 edition of John Bull magazine has an article that talks about this period of Jimmy's life, and quite out of the blue, there's a mention of Minnie. 'Football being one of the least emotional businesses in the world, Sunderland looked askance at Jimmy with his gas-damaged lungs. They went further, they gave him a free transfer.
The family did not accept this situation, of course. Anty knew Jimmy had the football in him. Angus knew they all had football in them, despite the war, and wounds and gas. Sister Minnie was convinced more than any of them. Why, in the war years, she had donned the England jersey herself - for a girls' team against Scotland.'
Meanwhile Minnie continued to play some quite high profile matches in front of big crowds. On 2 November, just days after Jimmy's return from France she turned out in the first of three consecutive matches for the Tyneside Munitionettes, on this occasion against their local rivals, the Teesside Munitionettes.
On 14 December Brown's were despatched 4-0, and on Boxing Day the highly regarded Whitehaven side were to be the opposition:
Whitehaven (photograph courtesy of Eva Elliott)
Played at St James' Park before 18,000 spectators Tyneside fielded a strong line-up including Minnie alongside Bella Reay and Mary Lyons up front.
This was the first defeat for the Whitehaven team whose previous record was played 25, won 23, drawn 2.
Scorers: Dorrian, McKenna, Lyons
Tyneside: Sarah Atkinson (N.U.T., South Benwell), Grace Battista (A. W. & Co.), Lizzie Gibson (Palmers), Bella Willis (A. W. & Co. and Prudhoe), Cissie Short (A. W. & Co.), Lizzie Form (Palmers), Mary Dorrian (Brown's West Hartlepool), Winnie McKenna (South Bank), Bella Reay (Blyth Spartans), Mary Lyons (Palmers), Minnie Seed (Sunderland).
In March 1919, while Jimmy was convalescing, Minnie pulled off one of her most notable achievements in winning the Munitionettes Cup. She had been poached by Palmer's who built a very strong team that again featured Minnie alongside Bella Reay and Mary Lyons in the forward line. Minnie scored a goal in the semi-final 3-2 victory over 'Foster, Blackett and Wilson's' which set up their place in the final at St James' Park.
The match was previewed in the Northern Daily Mail on Friday, March 21 1919
‘PALMER'S v. WEST HARTLEPOOL (BROWN'S).
The above teams will meet in the final tie for the Munitionettes Cup on Saturday first at St. James's Park, Newcastle.
Palmer's team includes Miss Bella Reay, Blyth Spartans' famous centre forward, who performed the "hat trick” in last season’s Cup final: Miss Bella Willis, of Armstrong-Whitworth's and Prudhoe. captain of Tyneside Ladies' team, and perhaps the best right half playing in this class of football: Miss Mary Lyons, a tricky 16-year-old player: and Miss Minnie Seed, of Gosforth Aviation and Naval Yard, a tricky left-winger.
Brown's eleven includes Miss Minnie McKenna (South Bank), Bolckow's prolific goal-scoring centre forward. and reputed to be the cleverest all-round lady footballer of the day: and Misses Nellie Kirk and Mary Derrian, the international right-wingers. All Brown's players keep their correct positions right through the game, and part with the ball to advantage every time.
This is the only Ladies' Cup in existence. As in men's cup-ties, the new ball that the match is played with will become the property of the player who captures it after the final whistle blows.
The cap and gold medals will be presented to the winning team after the match. Birtley St. Joseph's Silver Prize Band will render selections half-an-hour before the game commences, and also during the interval.
Judging by the reputation of the players and the interest taken in the game, last season’s record, when £651 was taken at the gates from 30,000 spectators, promises to be exceeded.’
Unfortunately the 'Spanish' Flu outbreak meant that a reduced crowd of 10,000 spectators witnessed the Palmers side securing the Cup in a tense 1-0 win over 'Browns'. The whereabouts of Minnie's gold medal is unknown.
Donmouth has more:
'The Munitionettes' Cup managed to run to completion, although in the latter stages guest players from other teams were drafted in to create more interest and attract larger crowds. The winners were a combined team from Palmers Jarrow and Hebburn Works, who included three top-class guest players - Bella Reay from Blyth Spartans, Bella Willis from Armstrong-Whitworths and Minnie Seed from Gosforth Aviation. They disposed of Hood Haggies Girls 4-0 on 23rd November, and Armstrong-Whitworths 4-1 on 8th February. This latter match was played at St James's Park, and Palmers' star player was Bella Reay, who scored a hat-trick. In the semi-final on 2nd March Palmers met another local team, Foster, Blackett and Wilson's, led by Palmers' former goalkeeper, Maggie Scott. In a keenly contested game Palmers emerged the winners by the odd goal in five.
The final, in which Palmer's met Brown's of West Hartlepool, was contested on a snow-covered St. James's Park on 22nd March 1919, in front of 10,000 spectators. Brown's also had a guest player in their line-up - the redoubtable Winnie McKenna of Bolckow, Vaughans. She was unable to prevent Palmers winning 1-0, the goal being scored by Bella Reay, who together with Mary Lyons achieved the distinction of being the only double winners of the Munitionettes' Cup in its short history. (At the same time Winnie McKenna became the only double winner of a runners-up medal)'
Another highlight for Minnie was turning out for 'Newcastle Girls' (actually a team made up of girls from the North and the North East) in two matches against the previously undefeated Dick, Kerr Ladies. The first, on 8 March in front of 5,000 fans at Deepdale produced a 1-0 win for Dick, Kerr Ladies and raised £179 for charity.
 |
| Newcastle Girls. Minnie is front row, on the right. |
On 22 April 1919 a crowd of around 30,000 (the deadly Spanish flu was beginning to peter out by then) packed into St James' Park for the return match. The Northern Girls, again including Bella Reay and Mary Lyons, held out for a creditable nil-nil draw. Fortunately for the Newcastle Girls side the great Lily Parr hadn't yet joined the Dick, Kerr Ladies, being only 13 or 14 at the time.
May 1919 saw Minnie playing for Tyneside Ladies at Ayresome Park in a 1-1 draw with Teesside Ladies, and this was followed by a derby double in which Minnie captained Sunderland against Newcastle. The first, played at Roker Park, resulted in a 4-1 win for the Geordies in front of a crowd of 10,000, raising £436 for the Haverfield Serbian Distress Fund. The return fixture was held on 31 May in front of 9,000 at St James' Park and didn't go any better for Minnie and the Mackems, the Newcastle girls triumphing 4-0. On this occasion the beneficiary was the Newcastle (Central) Division of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
So Jimmy was being given the chance to revive his footballing career, an opportunity which he was fortunately able to take with both hands. In the seven months that Jimmy was with the club he played three games a week to help Mid Rhondda win both the Southern 
League Division Two and Welsh League titles, as well as the South Wales Cup. His performances and goal scoring feats inevitably attracted interest from the English football scouts, and in January 1920 he was signed by Spurs who were currently in Division Two. Despite the step up in the standard of the football, Jimmy was able to fight his way into the first team, contributing five goals as Spurs ran away with the Division Two title.
League Division Two and Welsh League titles, as well as the South Wales Cup. His performances and goal scoring feats inevitably attracted interest from the English football scouts, and in January 1920 he was signed by Spurs who were currently in Division Two. Despite the step up in the standard of the football, Jimmy was able to fight his way into the first team, contributing five goals as Spurs ran away with the Division Two title.
1921 turned out to be a spectacular year for Jimmy, but Minnie wasn't finished yet, featuring in an eye-catching match at Windsor Park in Belfast. Just ten days after Jimmy's appearance in Spurs' FA Cup semi final 2-1 victory over Preston North End, Minnie turned out for an 'English Girls' side against Ireland in front of 10,000 spectators (29 March).
Minnie's previous match that we know about took place in May 1919, but this doesn't mean she wasn't active during the intervening period; most of the information about women's football has been gleaned from contemporaneous press reports, and while many newspapers from the Great War period have been digitised, many of those from the post war years have yet to be scanned.
However, many of the war effort related ladies teams folded in the post war period as the companies involved would no longer be manufacturing munitions, ships and planes to same extent, and those engineering companies that were still involved would have been pressured into allowing men returning from the theatre of war to fill those roles again.
Even so, some women's football did continue, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was less coverage in the papers as men's football had returned, and perhaps newspapers were less inclined to give publicity to women occupying what were previously considered men's roles, both off and on the pitch, now the war was over.
However, the Easter match in Belfast received a high profile in Northern Irish newspapers.
In the build up to the contest the Northern Whig described Minnie Seed as follows: ‘the inside right is the fastest lady footballer in England. She is a real dandy player, and is a sister of Seed, who plays for the FA Cup finalists, Tottenham Hotspur.’
However, many of the war effort related ladies teams folded in the post war period as the companies involved would no longer be manufacturing munitions, ships and planes to same extent, and those engineering companies that were still involved would have been pressured into allowing men returning from the theatre of war to fill those roles again.
Even so, some women's football did continue, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was less coverage in the papers as men's football had returned, and perhaps newspapers were less inclined to give publicity to women occupying what were previously considered men's roles, both off and on the pitch, now the war was over.
However, the Easter match in Belfast received a high profile in Northern Irish newspapers.
In the build up to the contest the Northern Whig described Minnie Seed as follows: ‘the inside right is the fastest lady footballer in England. She is a real dandy player, and is a sister of Seed, who plays for the FA Cup finalists, Tottenham Hotspur.’
The English Girls won 3-2, Mary Lyons scoring two of the English side's goals.
(The National Football Museum's Dr Alex Jackson tells the full story on the Playing Pasts website.)
Just three weeks later Jimmy Seed was to win an FA Cup winners medal as Spurs defeated Wolves 1-0 in the final held at at Stamford Bridge, and less than a month later he won his first England cap, playing alongside his childhood idol Charlie Buchan, as England defeated Belgium 2-0 in Brussels. Brussels is around sixty or so miles from both Nieuwpoort and Valenciennes, the scenes of Jimmy's gassings a few years earlier.
But while Jimmy's footballing career was going from strength to strength Minnie's was to come to a juddering halt six months later when the FA decided in their wisdom to prevent Football League clubs for allowing their affiliated grounds to be used for women's football.
Many reasons have been given for this decision, and it's possible that they all had a part to play;
i. The most bizarre was the F.A.'s sudden stated concern that football might damage women's health and hamper their ability to bear children. This claim was rebuked by Mrs Boultwood, captain of the Plymouth Ladies team, who stated
'The controlling body of the F.A. are a hundred years behind the times and their action is purely sex prejudice. Not one of our girls have felt any ill effects from participating in the game'. *
ii. F.A. also expressed some concern that some of the funds raised for charity may have been misappropriated, but even if that were the case the women's game could hardly be blamed for this.
iii. The establishment's fear that the success of the women's game would lead to a further support for the emancipation of women in society.
iv. A concern that women's football's popularity was somehow a threat to the men's game.
v. Nervousness that the large sums raised for charity revealed how much money was being made by the club owners at a time when the Football League was insisting on a maximum wage for players.
v1. Or perhaps even the establishment's disquiet that some women's teams had switched from raising funds for disabled servicemen to supporting the Labour Movement, including striking coal miners.
'However, with the growing popularity of Parr, the team, and the women’s game, and the huge amounts of money being raised, Kerr’s and women’s football became embroiled in a political battle. With Kerr’s holding games in support of miners, and the team seen as a tool for helping the Labour Movement, the FA moved to suppress the women’s game. Further to the statement released saying “football is quite unsuitable for ladies”, the FA added: “The Council are further of the opinion that an excessive proportion of the receipts are absorbed in expenses and an inadequate percentage devoted to Charitable objects.”' [Fifa.com website]
We'll probably never know where Jimmy stood on these issues, but if he and Minnie had fallen out over them at least it looks like he still attended her Boxing Day 1923 wedding to 'blast furnaceman' Thomas Quayle at Whitburn Parish church.
On Christmas Day Jimmy had turned out for Spurs against Middlesbrough at White Hart Lane, but he didn't play in the return Boxing Day fixture at Ayresome Park. I like to think he was excused so that he could attend the wedding, in which case he may well have taken the early morning train up to the North East with the Tottenham team, and travelled on after the rest of the team had alighted at Middlesbrough station.
Minnie and Thomas had one son, Thomas Anthony Quayle, born 30 December 1924 at the Quayle family home in Miles St, Eston, Middlesbrough.
Minnie's husband Thomas died in 1939 and she moved to Aldershot to live with her older sister Frances in York Road, on the military base. In an echo of her time in aircraft manufacturing during World War One records list Minnie as 'Aircraft Worker (balloon)'. It's likely Frances had also moved south when she was widowed to be closer to her brother Angus, who was manager Aldershot FC at the time.
Very sadly, the death of Minnie MJ Quayle, aged just 51, was registered in the December quarter of 1948 in Barnsley.
Her son Thomas had married a Mary Crofts there in March of the same year. To add to the Barnsley/Seed connection, Angus Seed was at that time the manager of Barnsley FC, and he also died in Barnsley, in 1953.
At the time of her death Minnie was listed as being a resident of the White Hart Hotel, Barnsley and she passed away at Barnsley's Beckett Hospital, leaving an estate of £150 to
Minnie Seed was just one of the many women who blazed a trail in women's football whose adventures were largely forgotten for many years. Many of her generation, both male and female, drew a line after the war, and just wanted to put it all behind them, but in recent years there has been a real surge in interest in munitionette football which has shed much more light on the topic; some excellent books have been written and a feature film was planned, although the current pandemic seems to have put production on hold.
But nonetheless, it does seem odd that Jimmy Seed's grandchildren knew nothing of Minnie's time as a footballer, until recently. She wasn't mentioned in Jimmy's autobiography, and in a suitcase full of his memorabilia, including photo albums, scrapbooks and hundreds of newspaper articles, there's not a trace or mention of Minnie at all, other than that one family photo from 1900. It would be easy to speculate that her exploits may not have met with her family’s approval, or that perhaps Jimmy didn’t take women’s football very seriously, but we don’t have any real evidence to support that.
However, no one could blame Jimmy if his traumatic wartime experiences, and his near forced exit from the game because of the effects of the gassings, meant that he looked upon Minnie’s successes with a wry smile.
[To stay in touch with the latest on the Minnie story you can follow @MinnieSeed on Twitter]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Addendum
Is it possible this photo [left] from a Seed family photo album might be of Minnie Seed? In the pram is Jimmy Seed's daughter Gladys who was born in September 1924 who later wrote 'me' on the picture. The photo was probably taken in 1925 when Minnie would have been about 27.
Is it my imagination or does she look a little like the girl turning out for Newcastle Girls six years earlier?
Minnie herself had a baby the year before, so would she have been able to find her way down from Middlesbrough to north London at that time? It does seem just about possible, but it's impossible to know for sure.
Is it my imagination or does she look a little like the girl turning out for Newcastle Girls six years earlier?
Minnie herself had a baby the year before, so would she have been able to find her way down from Middlesbrough to north London at that time? It does seem just about possible, but it's impossible to know for sure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINNIE'S STATS
Of course there may well have been other matches, but these are the ones compiled by the authoritative Donmouth Website:
Her first 'match' on the records was a washout:
20/10/1917
Munitions Cup R1
Blyth Spartans v Aviation Girls POSTPONED at the last minute owing to the military refusing to sanction it.
Bella Reay in Blythe Spartans team, Minnie in Aviation Team
02/02/1918
At Stockton (2,000)
Teeside Munitionettes 1 (Winnie McKenna) Tyneside Munitionettes 1 (Bella Reay)
Minnie Seed (Gosforth Aerodrome Aviation) played for Tyneside
02/03/1918
at St James' Park in aid of St Dunstan's Hostel for Blinded Soldiers and Sailors
Tyneside Munitionettes 3 (Wallace 2, Jackson) Teeside Munitionettes 0
Minnie Seed (Gosforth Aviation) played for Tyneside
29/03/1918
St James' Park before 5,000 spectators in aid of Cowen Home for the Training of Disabled Soldiers and Sailors.
Durham 4 (Cornforth, 1 pen) Northumberland 1 (Wallace)
Minnie Seed (listed as 'Gosforth Aviation and Sunderland') played for Durham
04/05/1918
Normanby Park, South Bank
Tyneside Munitionettes 4 (Jefferson, Dunne, McKenna 2) Wearside Munitionettes 0
Minnie Seed (Gosforth Aviation)
11/05/1918
St James' Park in aid of the Alnwick branch of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Soldiers and Sailors.
Blyth Spartans Munition Ladies 4 (Reay 2, Best 2) Armstrong Whitworth 60 Shop 2
Minnie played for Blyth Spartans
01/06/1918
St James' Park (£100 gate receipts)
Tyneside Internationals 2 (Cornforth, o.g.) North of England 2 (McKenna 2)
Minnie (Sunderland and Aviation) played for North of England
15/06/1918
Croft Park, Blyth
Blyth Spartans 3 (Bella Reay 3) Walker Naval Yard 0
Minnie played for Walker Naval Yard
29/06/1918
Blyth Spartans Ladies 2 North of England Munitionettes 0
Minnie (Naval Yard) played for North of England Munitionettes
06/07/1918
St James' Park (4,000)
Internationals 1 (Churcher) North of England Munitionettes 1 (Stott)
North of England Munitionettes
Minnie (Armstrong's Naval Yard and Sunderland) played for North of England Munitionettes
[From the Donmouth website: As they were mainly concerned with raising money for charities, Munitionettes' games continued throughout the close season. One of the more interesting games was that played between the so-called "Tyneside Internationals" and a team representing the North of England. This took place at St. James's Park on 6th July 1918 and resulted in a 1-1 draw. According to press reports, the "Woman of the Match" was Mary Lyons of Palmer's, Jarrow, playing for the North of England. This was quite a remarkable feat, as Mary was only 14 years old. She seems to have been something of a dynamo, and was selected to play for England in the return match against Northern Ireland on 21st September 1918. Mary got 2 goals in England's 5-2 win, and thus became the youngest ever footballer to play for England - male or female.]
20/07/1918
St James' Park (4,000) St Dunstan's Hospital for Blinded Soldiers and Sailors
North of England 3 West of Scotland 2
Minnie (Armstrong's Naval Yard, late Gosforth Aviation and Sunderland) played for North of England.
This match is considered by Donmouth Website to be the 2nd England Women's International match. [See article below]
07/09/1918
Rockcliffe Ground, Monkseaton in aid of Comrades of the Great War
Durham 3 Northumberland 0
Minnie (Palmers and Sunderland) played for Durham
21/09/1918
St James' Park (2,000) Newcastle waived their fee. Raised only £60
North East Munitionettes [England] 5 (Lyons 3, McKenna, Kirk) Ireland 2 (Hall 2)
Minnie (Sunderland) played for North East Munitionettes [England].
This match is considered by Donmouth Website to be the 3rd England Women's International match. [See article below]
12/10/1918
St James' Park
Durham 0 Northumberland 1
Minnie (Palmers and Sunderland) played for Durham
02/11/1918
Victoria Ground, Stockton
Teeside Munitionettes v Tyneside Munitionettes
Minnie (Sunderland) played for Tyneside
14/12/1918
Tyneside Munitionettes 4 (Reay 2, Lyons 2) Brown's (Hartlepool) 0
Minnie (Sunderland) played for Tyneside
26/12/1918
St James' Park (18,000)
First defeat for Whitehaven whose previous record was P25, won 23, drawn 3.
Tyneside Munitionettes 3 (Dorrian, McKenna, Lyons) Whitehaven Munitionettes 0
Minnie (Sunderland) played for Tyneside
01/01/1919
Victoria Ground, Stockton
Northumberland v Durham & North Yorks
Minnie (Sunderland) played for Durham & North Yorks
18/01/1919
Whitehaven (5-6,000)
Whitehaven Ladies 1 (Wilson) Tyneside Ladies 1 (Reay)
Minnie (Sunderland) played for Tyneside Ladies
01/03/1919
Pit Heap Ground, Curlew Rd, Jarrow
Munitionettes Cup semi-final
Palmers (Jarrow & Hebburn) 3 (Taylor pen, Seed, Hagan o.g.) Foster, Blackett & Wilson's 2 (Scott, Wilson)
Minnie played for Palmers
08/03/1919
Deepdale (Preston NE) (5,000) Raised £179
Dick, Kerr's (Preston) Girls 1 (Mitchell) Newcastle Girls 0
Minnie played for Newcastle (Although billed as Newcastle it was really a North East team)
Dick, Kerr (black and white): Hastie, Kell (capt.), Hulme*, Rawsthorne*, Warmsley, Jones, Walker, Harris, Mitchell, Partington*, Redford; reserves: Crawshaw, Standing, Arnold and Dickinson
Newcastle (claret and white): Sarah Atkinson, Catherine Egan, Lizzie Gibson, Bella Willis (capt.), Cissie Short, Lizzie Form, Mary Dorrian, Nellie Kirk, Winnie McKenna, Mary Lyons, Minnie Seed.
Although billed as Newcastle Girls several players came from other parts of the North-East
* Rawsthorne, Hulme and Partington were drafted in from Bolton Ladies
22/03/1919
St James' Park (9,000) Munitionettes' Cup Final
Palmers (Jarrow and Hebburn) 1 (Bella Reay) Browns (West Hartlepool) 0
Minnie (listed as 'Gosforth Aviation') played for Palmers
22/04/1919
St James' Park (25-30,000)
Newcastle Girls 0 Dick Kerr's Girls (Preston) 0
Minnie played for Newcastle Girls
Newcastle: Florrie Holmes, Grace Battista, Catherine Egan, Bella Willis (capt.), Martha O'Brien, Lizzie Form, Mary Dorrian, Winnie McKenna, Bella Reay, Mary Lyons, Minnie Seed.
Dick Kerr: Hastie, Hulme, Kell (capt.), Jones, Walmsley, Rawthorne, Redford, Partington, Harris, Standing, Walker.
10/05/1919
Ayresome Park (2,000) In aid of the YWCA
Teeside Ladies 1 (Mary Lyons) Tyneside Ladies 1 (Beattie Taylor)
On this occasion Minnie played for Teeside Ladies, lining up against the legendary Bella Reay who was her teammate in the previous matches listed above.
24/05/1919 (or 14th?)
Roker Park (10,000) Raised £436 for Haverfield Serbian Distress Fund
Sunderland Munitionettes 1 (Kirk) Newcastle Munitionettes 4 (Lyons 3, McGuire)
Minnie was captain of the Sunderland Munitionettes
31/05/1919
St James' Park (9,000) in aid of the St John Ambulance
Newcastle Munitionettes 4 (Taylor 3, 1 pen, Lyons) Sunderland Munitionettes 0
Minnie was captain of the Sunderland Munitionettes and Bella Reay was on her team.
29/03/1921
'Ladies International' Testimonial match.
Ireland v English Girls
2 - 3 (Mary Lyons 2)
Windsor Park in Belfast 10,000 in bad weather
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOME PRESS CUTTINGS MENTIONING MINNIE
 |
| Sunderland Daily Echo 17 May 1919 |
 |
| Middlesbrough Daily Gazette 16 Dec 1918 |
 |
| Middlesborough Daily Gazette 31 May 1918 |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 |
| Jimmy Seed [l] revisits the battlefields in the 1920s |
Acknowledgments
The excellent Donmouth website kindly provided me with a database of matches Minnie Seed was known to have played in.
Special thanks to Gail Newsham for info and inspiration. Her excellent book 'In A League Of Their Own! The Dick, Kerr Ladies 1917-1965' has just been updated.
Thanks also to Dr Alex Jackson of the National Football Museum and Playing Pasts website who provided information about the March 1921 match between Ireland and English Girls.
* Quote taken from Belles of the Ball by David J Williamson.
Contact
@Minnie_Seed on Twitter
© James Dutton unless otherwise stated
No comments:
Post a Comment