Full name Edna Neillis Position Forward | Date of birth 15 April 1953 Date of death 13 July 2015 Playing position | |
Died 13 July 2015, Cumbernauld, United Kingdom | ||
Edna Neillis (Glasgow, 15 April 1953 – Cumbernauld, 13 July 2015) was a Scottish former women's association football player, who represented both the Scottish women's football team and played in France and Italian championship.
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Raised in eastern Glasgow, Neillis played football in the streets as a child and for a boys team. She earned her first cap with the Scotland national team as a teenager and played in the team's first international match against England in 1972. Previously, women's football was banned for over 50 years.
Neillis and her teammate Rose Reilly received a lifetime ban by the Scottish FA after speaking out against the national team's amateur-level coach in 1975. She continued to play professionally in Italy.
Honors and awards
In popular culture
In 2013, Neillis was featured in the BBC documentary Honeyballers, focused on the pioneers of Scottish women's football. In December 2015, a motion to induct Neillis into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame was proposed.