The first evidence we can find of women’s football in the Gold Coast region are teams that formed in mid 1970s…

In 1974, the Nerang Eagles formed a social women’s team that played on special occasions, such as a charity day organised by Nerang against Pindara Hospital nurses to help raise funds for the nurse of the year contestant representing Pindara Hospital. The Nerang Eagles also had a junior girl’s team that was coached by 3 women including, Beryl Stone (whose son Fred Stone went on to coach the women’s team years later). The junior girl’s team were successful during this time, becoming the runners up in both the premiership & grand final.

Musgrave Hill Soccer Club also began informal kickabouts for female players in 1974. The pitch was very rough. Wild horses would be chased away for kick-off and players would often arrive straight from the beach. It appears both Nerang Eagles and Musgrave Hill went on to form more formal teams soon after these social matches.

In 1976, there were relatively small numbers of teams and players. Teams registered at Southport, St Hildas (As and Bs), Juventus and a team called Beauties played a round robin tournament. On the right are the Gold Coast fixtures for 1976.

Musgrave Hill served a pivotal role for women’s football in the region until the late 1980s, when a lack of provision for the women’s game saw many players move to other clubs, including Broadbeach.

Key figures involved in the game’s development in the period in between include Bonnie Pidd who coached the earliest teams and remained involved for many years. The Warriors were one of her first. Bonnie had no coaching qualification, but knew enough to keep the players motivated and involved. Her daughter Lisa would go on to play for many years (Lisa Pidd is pictured on the right).