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Lady Florence Dixie was a traveller, writer and war correspondent. She campaigned for women's rights and was the first president of the British Ladies Football Club

Why was Lady Florence Dixie important?

Florence Dixie was an early supporter of the rights of women. She thought that men and women should have the same rights especially when it came to things like voting and marriage.

She used her books to get across her idea that men and women should both be treated equally. In one books that she wrote in 1890, she predicted there would be a female prime minister before 1999. And she was right!

She also believed that men and women should be able to do the same things, for example football.

Events in the history of women's football

• 7 May 1881 - Easter Road, Edinburgh. The first women’s football match played using FA rules. Teams representing England and Scotland played in front of a crowd of around 1, 000 people. Scotland won 3-0.

• 16 May 1881 - Shawfield, Glasgow. A second match between England and Scotland took place in front of more than 5, 000 people. The game was ended after the crowd invaded the pitch and broke up the match.

• 1881 - Another match in Glasgow was cancelled but more matches were played in Blackburn, Bradford, Manchester and Liverpool.

• 1894 - The British Ladies Football Team was started by Nettie Honeyball. Florence Dixie became its President and organised women's football matches for charity.

• 23 March 1895 - Crouch End, London - The first match of the British Ladies Football Team took place in front of 10, 000 people. The 'North' beat the 'South' 7-1.

The Victorians and sport

• The Victorians loved sport, with football, cricket, golf and tennis among the most popular.

• It was during the Victorian era that the rules for lots of different kind of sport were first written down, such as the Scottish sport of shinty. Shinty is a game played by two teams with sticks and a ball.

• A lot of of famous sporting events began in Victorian times - for example, the first men's tennis match at Wimbledon, the first international cricket match and the first Modern Olympic Games.