100 Years Of Defiance
Anastasia Kuchta, England
My name is Anastasia Kuchta, a graphic designer living in London. I grew up in Florida and started playing football at the age of 7. When I moved to the UK, I began playing football for my university team (UAL) and was shocked that the sport was so male dominated and lacked space for women. After finishing at UAL, I joined Goal Diggers FC in 2018 after being brought along by a teammate from UAL.
What did you try to show with the photos? Was there any wider meaning with the photos?
Goal Diggers Football Club (GDFC) is a non-profit grassroots London club set up by Fleur Cousens in 2015. The club aims to make football more available and accessible to all women and non-binary people regardless of previous experience or ability. 2021 marked the centenary of the FA ban on women from football. This erasure of the women’s game lasted 50 years, forever shaping history. To commemorate the ban and shed light on the overlooked history of the women’s game, I designed a new kit for the club.
The photos are all of GDFC sporting our new kit. A lot of the photos were taken at Haggerston Park on the first day we showed the club the kit. Others were taken on Clapham Common (11-aside) and Archbishops Park (7-aside), the first weekend we wore our kit to play.
The photos, kit, and wider club all are trying to share the message that football is for everyone. It is not a gendered sport. Football is for anyone who plays for the love of the game.
Can you tell us more about the kit design?
Each player now wears the number 1921 on their back, rather than individual numbers. This is extremely powerful as it allows all the players wearing this kit the chance to educate those who question the reasoning behind this number. It is a chance to educate about a history shaped by the strength of those who were determined to play the sport they loved – even when their own governing body tried to prevent them.
The kit design is heavily inspired by the art deco style popular in the 1920s. The patterns and font of ‘1921’ are evocative of design and fashion trends at the time of the ban. The keeper kit is uniquely powerful because the green colour is reclaiming the shades commonly associated with football pitches and marrying them with the 1921 era of the art deco style.
Each kit also includes Alice Kell’s words, “We play for the love of the game and are determined to go on”. Alice Kell was an association football player and the captain of Dick Kerr Ladies FC, one of the first prominent female football teams in the world. This quote was spoken after women’s teams were banned by the FA on 5 December 1921 and encapsulates 100 years of defiance that women have shown by simply playing the game.
What are the opportunities for female and non-binary footballers in London and the UK?
Football opportunities for women and non-binary people are definitely on the rise in London and the UK. Since moving here and joining GDFC I have seen the women’s football scene explode, especially after the Women’s World Cup in 2019. The WSL is gaining more attention and fans, and grassroots clubs and leagues are growing. What is stunting the growth in London is pitch access.
What does football mean to you?
Football is more than a game for me, it is also about community. At the grassroots level in London you really see the importance of community in individual teams, but also amongst grassroots teams. There is not a lot of rivalry between teams, but rather support for what each team is trying to do. Overall it is quite a positive and friendly environment.
Where can we find out more and buy the kit?
More information about the kit can be found at www.goaldiggersfootballclub.com/store. 100% of proceeds from the kit go to GDFC and their efforts to make football more accessible to all.
