It all began in 1988 for former lionesses Angela Potter and Bernie Mills when Crosfields beat Halifax in the first ever women’s rugby league Challenge Cup.
The two Warrington-born players set up the Crosfields team (then known as Warrington Ladies) back in 1980 before both going on to play for Great Britain.
And now they will be featuring in a heritage project titled ‘Life with the Lionesses’ to detail their experiences playing international women’s rugby league back when it all first began.
The exhibition runs from October 17 to October 26, at Chester Lane Library in St Helens, and aims to educate the public on the faces of the role models who ‘pioneered’ Women’s Rugby League.
Visitors will be able to follow the players ground-breaking journey on and off the field and see their stories and experiences brought to life, from fundraising their own tour to playing on an equal stage with their male counterparts in this year’s World Cup.
Organiser of the project, Julia, will tell all about her experiences as the first woman to qualify as a men’s rugby league referee in Great Britain.
“We are delighted to have been offered a platform for our exhibition in St Helens. Women had to work so hard to get recognition for their achievements in Rugby League and we are keen to tell their stories to a wider public.
“Now that there is going to be a Women’s Rugby League Hall of fame, it’s even more important to get the message out there and celebrate those early trailblazers,” Julia said.
Angela and Bernie have always been massive rugby fans and first met when setting up the successful Warrington team.
“From the age of five I’ve been a season ticket holder, so I just loved Rugby,” Angela said.
“When we got started, we used to train two nights a week and our kit was just pulled together from whatever we had – I often pinched my brothers’ kit! In our first game we were beaten 70 points to 34 but we still loved it.”
Bernie described her young self as a ‘tomboy’, being one of six siblings with three brothers.
She said: “I started playing football originally, but when it moved from Warrington to Liverpool, I didn’t drive so I couldn’t get there.
“When we got chosen to play for Great Britain, we all queued up outside the phone box to call our families because there were no mobile phones back then.”
Both Angela and Bertie were called up to play for the Great British Lionesses back in 1989 for the tour of France.
“Bernie and I doing walking rugby now for Warrington Wolves. Bernie is also volunteering to help with the Rugby League World Cup this autumn.
“To see the opportunities that women have to play these days is fantastic. The things that we did in the past were the building blocks for this.”
The Life with the Lionesses project, funded partially by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, will tour 10 venues across the North.
For more information about the exhibition contact Julia at Julia.lee@csi2012.co.uk
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