Not many players can say they have shone for three South Yorkshire powerhouses, notching brilliant spells at Sheffield FC, Wednesday Ladies and Doncaster Belles. Not only has Lisa Bailey gone on to do this, but she also took the left-field route to Vorwarts Kornharpen, Sheffield’s twin city in Germany.
In our recent installment of looking at the South Yorkshire icons who have made women’s football what it is today, there are no bigger names than Lisa Bailey.
Starting out by playing boys football, Bailey stood out from the pack – she found herself trialing at Sheffield Wednesday Ladies at just 15-years-old, getting signed without even having her own pair of boots.
Whilst playing a prominent role for Sheffield Wednesday Ladies, her talents were noticed at a national level, being recognised to play for England U21s. Previously speaking to FURD, Bailey noted Phill Jowett and Julie Callaghan at Wednesday Ladies for kickstarting her career, who offered the trial initially.
“I got called up to England camp in my first season and will always be grateful for what Keith [Lisa’s youth club leader], Phil & Julie did for me.
“Also the late Malcom Hutchby, what an amazing guy! He did so much for Sheffield Wednesday and women’s football for years and the opportunity of being involved in such an amazing environment where I’ve made life long friends is something I’ll cherish.”
Bailey spent four years in S6 before she made the left-field move to Vorwarts Kornharpen in Bochum Germany (the twin city of Sheffield) for 18 months. A return to Sheffield Wednesday was sealed after her stint in Germany, before then moving to Doncaster Belles.
Once again, Bailey found herself back with the Owlesses in the late 90s. Still showing an abundance of quality, she notably had a ferocious shot on her. A report from 1999 of Sheffield Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat to Bradford City, where she bagged a goal to half the deficit, Bradford City and England U16 keeper Rachelle Houldsworth ‘dislocated a finger attempting to keep out an equaliser’ from Bailey.
Unfortunately, injuries hampered the latter years of Bailey’s career, having a recurring knee problem that made her game time for different clubs rather sparse.
It wasn’t until the late 2000s until she managed to get back on track, playing for Sheffield FC after six knee surgeries, where she was ‘lured’ to as a striker.
“I ended up scoring 86 goals in 80 games! Which I believe is still the goal per game record. I finished playing in 2009 but stayed with the club as manager of the development team for 2 years.”
Bailey continued to show her quality in the swansong of her career, especially in front of goal with her trademark power shooting. A report from 2009 shows Sheffield FC fell to a 3-1 defeat to Guiseley, but Bailey bagged the sole goal for The Club, who ‘gave the seemingly unbeatable Joanne Farquhar no chance of saving her powerful strike into the roof of the net’.
The former Sheffield Wednesday Ladies star went against the odds to end her career on a high, defying her injury issues and shining for The World’s Oldest Club.
As far as records go back. Bailey is supposedly the first BME woman to play 11 aside open age football in Sheffield, and now she finds herself in the WSL as a sports therapist.
