Kerry Davis, the Lionesses' first black player, has been inducted into the National Football Museum's Hall of Fame.
Davis, 60, made her international debut in 1982 for the Lionesses, becoming the first black player to represent her country. Across a 16-year international career, the ex-forward won 82 caps and scored an impressive 44 goals.
Davis told the MEN: “Heritage is very important to me. When I played, I realised I was the only one with dual heritage, but it's only now that I realise that’s an achievement and it’s important to me.
“[I’m] absolutely delighted obviously for myself but also for all the players that I've played with over the years, getting them recognition. All the players of my generation, they’re part of my journey.”
The ceremony took place during the final day of the museum’s Football Writing Festival, an annual event which was in partnership this year with the newest women’s football dedicated exhibition “Crossing the Line: Second Half”.
Gabrielle Heffernan, the museum’s content director, told the MEN: “As a museum, we decided that we wanted to focus on rebalancing our collections.
“We have an aim for 50 per cent of our collections and displays to represent women’s football. We had one [exhibition] that was open through the late summer and one that's open now until Christmas, showing both the history and achievements of women's football but also displaying some of the amazing objects and stories that we collected.”
Davis added: “I came (to the museum) before the Euros started, but there is more to the exhibition now.
“It’s massive [for the Manchester area] I still think that the more stuff and exhibitions about women's football the better, but things take time.
“I've loaned them some of my stuff and it’s about other people loaning stuff to learn about the history and what came before because we’re not really known are we? But, you can really see the journey.”
The women’s football exhibition is live until December 10 when the collections will be embedded into the permanent galleries. Among the national displays are local collections such as cardigans the Accrington Wanderers women’s team wore in 1962 alongside today's diversity and inclusion football from Manchester Laces.
Heffernan said: “It’s a wonderful opportunity for Manchester to celebrate on a national scale but also to have that chance to really celebrate Manchester’s history and its future of football. I think the Manchester community is really proud to host this museum and to be able to tell its stories.”
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