Heritage Quay exhibition celebrates England Netball centenary

The University of Huddersfield is helping to mark a century of netball history with a new exhibition showcasing the sport at its nationally accredited Heritage Quay archive.

England Netball celebrated its centenary on 12 February, and the University marked the occasion by welcoming key figures from the sport to help launch Heritage Quay’s Here If You Need: 100 Years of England Netball exhibition.

Here If You Need is open for six months in a landmark year for the sport in the UK, with netball featuring at the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow in July.

Guests at the opening included Baroness Sue Campbell, Chair of the Board at England Netball and former Chair of UK Sport and Director of Women’s Football at the Football Association, and Eboni Usoro-Brown, England Netball president and a member of England’s gold medal-winning team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Heritage Quay’s archive facility holds around 15,000 netball-related items, and with around 20,000 digital files the netball collection is the largest women-only sporting archive in the UK.

Netball scholarships at the University of Huddersfield

The University’s partnership with England Netball began in 2017, following a grant of £50,000 in 2016 from the National Heritage Lottery Fund to establish a netball archive. Heritage Quay’s internationally recognised expertise in caring for sporting heritage made it a natural home for the material.

And the exhibition coincides with an excellent season for the university’s netball team, which sits on top of its BUCS league after wins over Sheffield Hallam University, Leeds University, Hull University and Teeside University.  

Dr Rebecca Bowd, University Archivist and Records Manager explains, “It’s been our privilege to look after the England Netball archive since 2017, and to work with them to celebrate such an important moment for them and for women’s sport. Opportunities to help our partners tell stories about themselves, and display their treasures is why we say yes to collections like this.”

Dave Smith, exhibition curator continues, “the exhibition tells stories from across the past century, and shows how England Netball has shaped the game for the millions of players who enjoy it so much. Visitors can see kit, photographs, programmes and much more. One of the rarest items is a document from one of England Netball’s predecessors in London, which contains the only report of the foundation meeting we can find.

“At the launch it was amazing to see so many people reminiscing about their own history in netball, and learning things about their sport at the same time. We can’t wait to welcome more netballers here over the next six months to have the same experiences themselves.”

Baroness Sue Campbell told guests at the exhibition’s opening, “In 1926, the age that girls could marry was changed from 12 to 16, and women didn’t even get the vote until 1928. So you have to recognise that the people who set this up were true pioneers. They took on the system and did it their way, and that spirit has lasted 100 years so that this sport is thriving.

“Netball offers community, real friendship and real hope to girls and women for a better future, not necessarily just in netball but in life. It’s more than a sport, it is a vehicle through which we can help girls and women do well. Girls and women today need a safe space where they can come together to enjoy each other’s company and netball provides that. This exhibition is a real celebration of the past, with vibrant hope for the future.”

The exhibition is open Monday-Friday 9am-5pm until Friday 28 August 2026.