GIRL POWER
In 1993 local girl Sophie Cox entered the record books as the first ever woman to play Rugby League at Wembley. Competing in the curtain-raiser to the Challenge Cup final, the 11-year-old played full- back for Rochdale Town who defeated Sheffield 12-6.
May 1993
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| Game on! Sophielooks forward to Wembley with Wigan's Joe Lydon and Widnes' David Hulme |
As she explained to journalists at the time; “I was always running around doing different sports, encouraged by my parents to get out of the house and do stuff like gymnastics, dancing and rugby.”
“I played rugby when I was eight and played through with boys’ teams until I was 12 or 13, but I couldn’t play rugby anymore because of the boy-girl thing and I don’t think there was a girls’ team around at the time.”
Speaking in the Lancashire Telegraph is 2012, Sophie said: “My primary school had four girls in the eight-player rugby league team and we were Rochdale Under-11 champions,” said Cox “The boys accepted any girl provided they were worth their place. By 11 I was a North of England and North-West judo champion so that also got me a lot of respect.”
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| This Girl Can: Sophie Cox takes on the Sheffield defence at Wembley |
However, Sophie’s historic achievement nearly didn’t happen. The Northwest Counties Schools Rugby League declared that, according to its constitution, girls were not allowed to play the game. Following an article in the Independent newspaper shortly before Christmas, the English Schools’ Rugby League stepped in and permitted her to play.
Speaking in the newspaper on Sunday 2 May 1993, Sophie claimed that she was not overawed by the occasion: “I felt a bit tense and nervous running through the tunnel, but then there was a huge cheer from the crowd of about 60,000. Once I was on the pitch the tension wore off and I enjoyed the game. Wembley was much smaller than I had imagined, which was a surprise.”
“I played quite well,” Sophie said after the game. “I am pleased with myself, I think anyone would be.”
In the following years it would be Judo, rather than Rugby League, that became Sophie’s real passion. She had been competing in Judo tournaments since the age of six and gained her black belt by the time she was 15. As an adult Sophie went on to win two European titles and represented Great Britain at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
