28 Feb – 28 March 2026
Crucible Theatre

by Stefano Massini
adapted by Tim Firth
directed by Elizabeth Newman 

‘We felt the love from the very first kick’.

With World War I forcing men onto the front line to fight, the women of Sheffield take their place in the factories, constructing the bombs and the bullets. 

When they start kicking a football around on their lunch breaks, it soon becomes clear that it’s not just positions on a factory floor these women can fill; it’s on the football pitch too. Finding unexpected strength through their new passion and teamwork they end up playing to crowds of over fifty thousand, all the time unaware something is looming that will blow the whistle on their beautiful game.

Based on real life events and adapted by Tim Firth (Calendar Girls) this brand-new production shows that the final result is not always the one on the scoreboard at full time.

Presented by Sheffield Theatres