Joyce Thompson: ‘I just did what I thought had to be done.’
Title
Joyce Thompson: ‘I just did what I thought had to be done.’
Subject
Joyce Thompson
Description
During the 1970s, Romney Marsh resident Joyce Thompson was a linchpin of women's football in Kent. Despite having little initial interest in the sport, she became the manager and lifeblood of Hamstreet Ladies Football Club - the White Wanderers - in the late 1960s. She also served as chairman of the women's Kent League, and was an active committee member in the Women's Football Association. In this fascinating interview, we hear about Joyce's dedication to the Hamstreet team, and to women's football in Kent. She also speaks about her childhood on the Marsh, working the land, and much more besides.
Creator
Michael Romyn
Date
12 February, 2020
Contributor
Joyce Thompson
Rights
Kent's Sporting Memories
Collection Items
Joyce Thompson Oral History Summary
Summary of an Oral History Recording with interviewee Joyce Thompson
Joyce Thompson on her wedding day, 1986
A photograph of Joyce Thompson on her wedding day in 1986. Joyce was married to Trevor Thompson, a marine engineer.
Hamstreet Ladies Football Club reunion in Ashford, c.1980
A photograph of some of the members of the Hamstreet Ladies Football Club at a reunion event in Ashford, c.1980. Joyce Thompson stands back row, centre.
Joyce Thompson: ‘I just did what I thought had to be done.’
A photograph of Joyce Thompson taken at her home in Lydd-on-Sea in January 2020
'So be careful what you talk about in a pub': Joyce Thompson on the founding of Hamstreet Ladies Football Club.
An excerpt of an oral history recording with Joyce Thompson, in which she describes how she came to start and manage a women's football team in Hamstreet in the late 1960s, despite her lack of interest in football. (Transcript attached.)
'To me I feel as though I’ve helped': Joyce Thompson on playing football in a sheep field, and providing a sporting outlet for young women.
An excerpt of an oral history recording with Joyce Thompson. Here Joyce describes the problems - and the surprising benefits - of playing football in a sheep field, as well as the importance of her football league for many young women in Kent.…