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Manchester Corinthians L.F.C. was a leading English women's football club of the 1950s and 1960s.
The team was founded in 1949 by Percy Ashley, principally so that his daughter, Doris, could play. Their home ground was Fog Lane Park in 
In 1957, the team toured Portugal, then completed in the International Ladies Football Association-organised European Cup, where it beat a team representing Germany. During the tournament,
Didsbury
Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788.
Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...
, although it had such basic facilities that players had to take post-match baths in a nearby duck pond. Ashley chose the team name as a homage to Corinthian FC
Corinthian Football Club was an English amateur football club based in London between 1882 and 1939. Above all, the club is credited with having popularised football around the world, having promoted sportsmanship and fair play, and having cha ...
, the men's amateur football team from London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, famous for their sporting ideals.
The team proved immediately successful, and by 1951 had won the Southern Cup, Manchester Area Cup, Sports Magazine Cup, Roses Trophy, Midland Trophy, Cresswell Trophy, Odeon Championship Trophy, Belle Vue Trophy, and Festival of Britain Championship Trophy. The team won the large majority of its matches, and often racked up large margins of victory. In 1957, in order to have more local opposition to play, Ashley set up a second, linked, team, The Nomads, which was effectively the club's second eleven.
In 1957, the team toured Portugal, then completed in the International Ladies Football Association-organised European Cup, where it beat a team representing Germany. During the tournament, Bert Trautmann
Bernhard Carl "Bert" Trautmann (22 October 1923 – 19 July 2013) was a German professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Born in Bremen in 1923, he joined the Jungvolk, the junior section of the Hitler Youth in August 1933. Trautmann ...
acted as the team's interpreter. This proved the first of many annual tours, the longest being a 12-week tour of South American and the Caribbean in 1960. Some matches attracted crowds of tens of thousands, and large amounts were raised for charity.
Percy Ashley died in 1967, and the team was gradually eclipsed by newer clubs. It won the first Deal International Tournament, in 1968, and took part in an international tournament in Reims
Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...
in 1970, beating ACF Juventus 1–0 in the final. It also won the Women's Football Association
The Women's Football Association (WFA) was the governing body of women's football in England. It was formed in 1969 and was disbanded in 1993, as responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the game of women's football in England passed to t ...
's (WFA) Teddy Gray Memorial Challenge Trophy in 1968 and 1969, losing in the final in 1970. In June 1970 Corinthians were one of the 44 clubs to be represented at the WFA's inaugural annual general meeting
An annual general meeting (AGM, also known as the annual meeting) is a meeting of the general membership of an organization.
These organizations include membership associations and companies with shareholders.
These meetings may be required ...
at Caxton Hall
Caxton Hall is a building on the corner of Caxton Street and Palmer Street, in Westminster, London, England. It is a Grade II listed building primarily noted for its historical associations. It hosted many mainstream and fringe political and a ...
.{{cite web , last1=Gregory , first1=Patricia , title=Founder Clubs , url=https://wfahistory.wordpress.com/early-years/founder-clubs/ , website=History of the Women's Football Association , accessdate=23 November 2019 It then joined the Three Counties League. However, by the end of the decade, it had declined.
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