大象传媒

In November 1973, Netherlands women鈥檚 football team lined up for their country鈥檚 first official international. It was a major step on the road to the development of the game, both in the Netherlands and in England, who were their opponents that day.

Now over 50 years on from that game, with the two countries both now powerhouses in women鈥檚 football, Matthew Kenyon speaks to one of the players from the Dutch team who was just 16 years old at the time, Ellen Popeyus, for whom the game was another chance to prove the doubters wrong.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You鈥檒l hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded.

Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women鈥檚 World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football鈥檚 biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who鈥檝e had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created.

(Photo: Former Dutch footballer Ellen Popeyus with the shirt she was given to commemorate her role in the country鈥檚 first ever official women鈥檚 international game. Credit: Matthew Kenyon/大象传媒)