“The whole family were Arsenal fans, but my mum said, ‘I’m supporting Spurs to piss them off!’ She was a striker and modelled herself on Jimmy Greaves” Badminton star Gail Emms on her Lioness star mum’s love for football

Emms’ mother Janice (circled) at the 1971 World Cup
(Image credit: Mirrorpix)

The story of England’s campaign at the 1971 World Cup – an unofficial tournament played in Mexico – is a fascinating one that had previously been somewhat airbrushed from history.

A film was released last year to tell the story of the ‘Lost Lionesses’ who travelled to the Central American country shortly after the Football Association had lifted their 50-year ban on the women’s game.

Crowds of more than 100,000 watched the tournament, with England’s team including striker Janice Emms, who quit her job as a bank clerk to play in Mexico.

Janice Emms modelled herself on Spurs legend Jimmy Greaves If that surname is familiar, that’s probably because Janice is the mother of Olympic silver medal-winning badminton star Gail Emms, who has now written a book on that 1971 team.

“I was maybe seven when she got out a scrapbook and my nan said, “Look, your mum went round one defender, then the other defender.” It was the Mexico story,” Gail tells FourFourTwo. There are only six English people who’ve ever scored at the Azteca – Gary Lineker is top with three and my mum is next with two.

The Estadio Azteca played host to the 1971 World Cup final (Image credit: Getty Images)“They played in front of 90,000 people. When I was nine or 10, I did a show-and-tell at school of my mum representing England, at the Azteca, and the teacher was like, ‘Are you sure about this?’

Gail is a huge Spurs fan, something she inherited from her mother.

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“Yeah,” continues Gail. “She was born in Highbury, the whole family were Arsenal fans, but she said, “I’m supporting Spurs to piss them off!” She was a centre-forward and modelled herself on Jimmy Greaves. My dad was a Norwich fan and my first ever match was Norwich vs Liverpool in 1984.

“We were living in Bedford and the drive there was painful – we got stuck behind so many tractors and combine harvesters. It felt like it took about 20 hours. I was traumatised by it, even though the game finished 3-3! My mum said, “Don’t worry, let’s go to Spurs.” She caught me at a weak moment!”

Christian Eriksen scored a famous winner for Spurs against Inter in 2018 – a match Emms remembers well Gail’s Spurs fandom has also seen her make her way onto the pitch, as she revealed when asked what her favourite Spurs game was.

“Don’t ask how, but I managed to blag myself a role as a flag girl – I got onto the pitch with a Champions League flag when we beat Inter 1-0 in 2018 and Christian Eriksen scored. I was by the touchline – people were walking past me, asking, “What are you doing here?!”

Gail’s book, The Lost Lionesses, is available now

For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.