Credit: Johan Persson
By Grace Hatchell, 2nd Act Couriers
Well now, Sheffield, you’ve gone and done it again.
Today’s delivery in Grace’s satchel? Rehearsal images from the Crucible ahead of the world premiere of The Ladies Football Club at Sheffield — and let me tell you, this isn’t just another period play dusted off for polite applause. Oh no. This one looks ready for kick-off.
Running from 28 February to 28 March 2026 at the Crucible Theatre, this major new production brings together Stefano Massini — yes, the very same mind behind The Lehman Trilogy — and Tim Firth, who gave us Calendar Girls and knows a thing or two about women refusing to stay quiet. Directed by Sheffield Theatres Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman, with movement from Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham, this isn’t a drama about football. It’s a football match told through theatre.
And that’s the difference.
Set during World War I, when the men were sent to the front and the women stepped into the factories, the story follows a group of Sheffield workers who begin kicking a ball around on their lunch breaks. What starts as a bit of relief becomes something far bigger — packed stadiums, roaring crowds, and a team who discover that strength isn’t just something you manufacture on a factory floor.
They play to crowds of over fifty thousand. Fifty thousand. And yet, as history tells us, something comes along to blow the whistle.
What makes this production feel particularly charged is its structure. Tim Firth describes it as a match in two halves — eleven players who never leave the field. Movement and storytelling entwined. No V.A.R. to save them. And you can already see in the rehearsal images that this isn’t going to be static storytelling. With Scott Graham shaping the physical language, expect bodies in motion, tension in formation, stories told through passes as much as speeches.
The cast line-up reads like a team sheet you’d frame on your wall: Jessica Baglow as Rosalyn, Leah Brotherhead as Hayley, Lesley Hart as Berenice, Bettrys Jones as Olivia, Ellie Leach as Brianna, Clair Norris as Melanie, Anne Odeke as Justine, Krupa Pattani as Cheryl, Cara Theobold as Violet, Chanel Waddock as Penelope and Charley Webb as Abigail. Joy Adeogun and Jamie Randall step in as Swings — because every strong side needs depth on the bench.
Elizabeth Newman calls it a story that “does not simply celebrate an important moment in history – it reclaims it.” And that word — reclaim — feels key.
Because this isn’t nostalgia.
It’s a reminder.
Massini himself points out that the majority of the world’s population is female, yet power so often sits elsewhere. His play looks back at a moment when a group of women simply took the ball — literally — and changed history. Eleven stories, one team, one pitch.
Sheffield’s roots are firmly in this tale, but its message travels far beyond the city. It’s about friendship. Community. Collective courage. And what happens when women realise they don’t need permission to play.
If the rehearsal images are anything to go by, this match is already underway.
And I Grace, for one, will be in the stands — satchel on lap, whistle at the ready, and fully prepared to tell the ref what for if things go daft.
As promised if you take a peek at the rehearsal snaps, I, Grace may or may not have smuggled out in my satchel, you’ll see this team is already match-fit.
The Ladies Football Club | Sheffield Theatres
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