Pioneering England female footballer honoured with Hull plaque

Carol Thomas made her England debut in 1974

A plaque commemorating one of the "true pioneers" of women's football in England has been unveiled in Hull.

Carol Thomas made her debut for the national team in 1974 and became the first English woman to reach 50 international caps.

She also skippered the Lionesses for nine years, before retiring in 1985.

The plaque is part of a campaign celebrating female England captains in the run up to this summer's Women's Euros.

Ms Thomas, 66, said she was "absolutely over the moon" with the accolade at the East Riding County FA centre.

"We did so much in the early days, in the 70s, for women's football.

"We like to think of ourselves as true pioneers and, hopefully, what we did in the 70s has helped the England Lionesses to where they are today," she said.

Carol Thomas posed with members of the current England women's team after being inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in 2021

The Hull-born defender played 56 times for her country and took part in friendlies and international tournaments in Italy, Japan and Norway.

'Pay to play'

She said she felt frustrated about the lack of recognition for her and her fellow national team players.

"When the FA finally took over women's football in '94 I think it was, it just seemed that everybody thought that women's football didn't start until the middle 90s," she said.

"We went through so much in the early years to get women's football recognised and also it cost us a lot of money.

"There was no money in those days - we had to pay to play for our country."

As well as the plaque, Ms Thomas was also inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame at the National Football Museum in Manchester in 2021.