Patricia Gregory

Patricia Gregory (born c.1947, London, England ) is an advocate for women's football in England. She was a founding member of the Women's Football Association (WFA) and acted as its second Honorary Secretary from 1973 to 1981.

She has also worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation Sport (BBC Sport), Independent Television (ITV), and as a member of the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Women's Football Committee from 1980 to 1994.

Her latest efforts include a push to give the original 1972 Lionesses team and all female football players legacy caps.

Career

Early activism

Gregory's inspiration for activism began when she watched Tottenham's male players celebrate their FA Cup victory in 1967. She has described feeling confused as to why women were not allowed to play in the FA Cup. To confront this issue, at the age of 19, Gregory wrote a letter to her local paper, The Hornsey Journal, in hopes of creating a women's football team to compete in the league, and several women replied to Gregory asking to be members. Fifteen women eventually met in her family's living room and conceived the team now known as White Ribbon. In 1967, Gregory submitted a proposal to the FA in an attempt to join the league with her team. However, due to a 1921 ban by the United Kingdom's Football Association, women were banned from joining the FA Cup leading to their initial rejection.

Founding the Women's Football Association

Hobbs and Gregory also worked together to establish the WFA in 1969.

A few months after the first WFA meeting, there was growing momentum for women's football from across the country and in Europe. The UEFA was among those that built pressure against the FA to lift the ban. In late 1969, Gregory was informed there was a possibility the 1921 ban would be lifted the following year. It was officially rescinded in 1970, just a year after the founding of the WFA. After this period, meetings between the FA and WFA led to an agreement that all clubs affiliated to the WFA were to be overseen and under the jurisdiction of the national association, which helped communicate with the Fédération internationale de football association (French for 'International Association Football Federation (FIFA) and UEFA. The jurisdiction of the WFA was limited, however, as they were put in charge of day-to-day duties, but were not financially supported or allowed to play mixed football matches.

Honorary secretary of the WFA Gregory served as the WFA's volunteer assistant until she took over Hobbs' position as secretary in 1972.

Late career

In 1993, Gregory decided to return to BBC Sport. She then retired in the year 2010.