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| Birth name | Emily Frances Valentine[1] | ||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | ca. 1878 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | County Fermanagh, Ireland | ||||||||||||
| Date of death | 1967[citation needed] | ||||||||||||
| Place of death | London, England[2] | ||||||||||||
| School | Portora Royal School | ||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Nurse[3] | ||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
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Emily Frances Valentine, designated the first lady of rugby and "female William Web Ellis" by the media,[4] is the earliest documented female rugby player (at the age of 10) in 1887, and provides the only confirmed record of a woman playing in the nineteenth century.[5] Prior to the discovery of Valentine, the earliest named female rugby player was Mary Eley in 1917, who at the age of sixteen played for the Cardiff Ladies.[4]
- ^ "The Springbok Experience Rugby Museum". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
- ^ "Emily Valentine: Will 'the first lady of rugby' join Hall of Fame?". CNN. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- ^ Birch, John (16 January 2010). "Emily Valentine – the first girl to play rugby (1887/8)". Remembering Letchworth Girls' rugby teams. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- ^ a b Crewdson, Kay (11 February 2010). "Valentine was first lady of rugby". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ^ Donnelly, Ally (17 January 2010). "The remarkable Emily Valentine". Scrum Queens. Retrieved 18 January 2018.