We today announced casting for the major world premiere production of The Ladies Football Club by Stefano Massini (The Lehman Trilogy) and adapted by Tim Firth (Calendar Girls). The production plays at the Crucible from Saturday 28 February - Saturday 28 March 2026 directed by Sheffield Theatres Artistic Director, Elizabeth Newman with movement by Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham.
One of the must-see new plays of 2026, The Ladies Football Club comes to the stage from the Tony Award-winning writer of the West End and Broadway hit, The Lehman Trilogy, Stefano Massini in a new adaptation by BAFTA and Olivier Award-winner of the global phenomenon, Calendar Girls, Tim Firth. In this exciting piece of storytelling, The Ladies Football Clubis a powerful story of friendship and community directed by award winning Elizabeth Newman, Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres. Tony and Olivier Award nominated Artistic Director of Frantic Assembly, Scott Graham will create the movement for the production, sharing his unique signature craft of storytelling through movement. With its roots firmly set in Sheffield, this new play is a universal story brought together by some of the leading forces in contemporary theatre.
Announced today, the cast includes Jessica Baglow (Gentleman Jack) as Rosalyn, Leah Brotherhead (Hullraisers) as Hayley, Lesley Hart (Shetland) as Berenice, Bettrys Jones (The Buddha of Suburbia) as Olivia, Ellie Leach (Coronation Street) as Brianna, Clair Norris (EastEnders) as Melanie, Anne Odeke (Princess Essex) as Justine, Krupa Pattani (Mr Bates vs The Post Office) as Cheryl, Cara Theobold (Downton Abbey) as Violet, Chanel Waddock (Othello)
as Penelope, Charley Webb (Emmerdale) as Abigail. Joy Adeogun (Romeo and Juliet) and Jamie Randall (The House Party) will perform as Swings for the production.
Sheffield Theatres Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman said: “The cast and creatives coming together for The Ladies Football Club bring extraordinary imagination, rigour, and heart to a story that demands to be seen and heard now. It honours the courage and collective spirit at the root of the history of women’s football, while pushing boldly into the present. The Ladies Football Club does not simply celebrate an important moment in history - it reclaims it. I am so excited to create this piece of storytelling with such a great team of people!”
Stefano Massini added: "I read that the majority of the world's population is female. But the rules and power are firmly in the hands of us men. This is what my play is about: a moment in time when a group of women, while their husbands were away fighting at the front, took the ball and made women's football history. It's a story I loved telling, because it's the sum of eleven stories, those of each of the workers who made up that dream team."
Tim Firth said: “The story of the birth of women’s football is intrinsically linked to its disappearance. The excitement I felt on reading Stefano’s funny and lyrical verse drama was the challenge of creating a play that was a football match: told as much in movement as in words by eleven players who never leave the field, who support each other, fight each other and discover a passion for something forbidden. It is a tale told in two halves with some critical extra time and, tragically for the women involved, no V.A.R.”
With World War One forcing men onto the front line to fight, the women of Sheffield take their place in the factories, constructing the bombs and the bullets.
When they start kicking a football around on their lunch breaks, it soon becomes clear that it’s not just positions on a factory floor these women can fill; it’s on the football pitch too. Finding unexpected strength through their new passion and teamwork they end up playing to crowds of over fifty thousand, all the time unaware something is looming that will blow the whistle on their beautiful game.
The creative team are Writer Stefano Massini, Adaptor Tim Firth, Director Elizabeth Newman, Designer Grace Smart, Movement Director Scott Graham, Lighting Designer Ben Jacobs, Sound Designer Ella Wahlström, Video Designer Joe Ransom, Composers Ella Wahlström, Tim Firth and Steve Parry, Casting Director Juliet Horsley, Associate Director Ben Occhipinti, Associate Sound Designer Pierre Flasse, Assistant Director Flo Gill and Additional Musical Arrangements & Recording Steve Parry.
