The story of huge crowds at the 1971 event is told in a new documentary backed by the Williams sisters.
In 1971, an unofficial women's football World Cup attracted crowds of more than 100,000, but was quickly erased from history. Now a new film tells the remarkable story of the tournament, and the disappointment that followed.
"The public took us straight to their hearts," Wilson continues. "They just followed us everywhere. We were so welcomed by everybody. I can't personally put that into words to make you understand how that really was.". Now, a documentary called Copa 71 shines a light on the tournament. The film's opening is narrated by tennis legend Serena Williams, who is an executive producer alongside sister Venus.
Although no official attendance figures exist, estimates suggest the final was watched by more than 100,000 people - which would make it the best-attended women's sporting event in history.Ironically, the tournament owed its success to the fact that world football's governing body Fifa tried to block it.
"We hope that this film is the start of a whole genre of women's sports films. Because when we started making this, it was very hard to find comparisons, to find other films that were similar, especially films told from the perspective of women in their 70s. Manager Harry Batt was banned for life for going against the wishes of the Women's Football Association
"When they came back after the tournament, they believed quite rightly that the world had shifted and that women's football was here to stay. They saw a whole new dawn for women's sport.
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