Prof Fiona Skillen
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fionaskillen.bsky.social
Prof Fiona Skillen
@fionaskillen.bsky.social
Professor in History, GCU. Research: sports & gender history, heritage &volunteering.
Pinned
Women's Sport and Art panel with Olympic Gold Winner Rhona Howie, Imogen Gibbon Chief Curator of Portraiture and myself.

Where: The National Galleries of Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
When: Tuesday 24 June 2025, 12.45–1.30pm (in person & online)

www.nationalgalleries.org/event/women-...
Women in Sport | Rhona Howie (in person) | National Galleries of Scotland
Rhona Howie, skip of the Great Britain curling team that won gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and deliverer of the final stone − the ‘stone of destiny’ − that sealed that famous triu...
www.nationalgalleries.org
Proud to finally hold this book in my hand. It’s taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears but it’s all worth it. Thanks to all the contributors and to my co-editors @HBee2015 and @GaryJamesWriter

Can’t wait to see it officially launched next week! #SportHistory
September 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM
This is exciting! And of interest to @bssh.bsky.social
August 26, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
🏆 Massive congratulations to the England Women’s team on their epic Euros win! ⚽️👏

If the tournament has sparked your love of the beautiful game, don’t miss our upcoming Story Café Special: A Most Unsuitable Game.

📅 Thursday 28th August
🕐 1:00–2:30pm
📚 ⚽️ Poetry, storytelling & herstory — all in one
Story Café Special: A Most Unsuitable Game | Glasgow Women's Library
Women have been playing football in Scotland for over a century and its roots can be traced back hundreds of years.
womenslibrary.org.uk
July 27, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
News | Visitors behaving badly? Damage to museum objects sparks sector debate 💬

A number of high profile incidents have taken place in recent weeks, but who should take the blame?
Visitors behaving badly? Damage to museum objects sparks sector debate - Museums Association
A number of high profile incidents have taken place in recent weeks, but who should take the blame?
www.museumsassociation.org
June 26, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
Amazing, not often we have an Olympic champion speaking @nationalgalleriesscot🥇‼️

Insightful conversation between Prof @fionaskillen Deputy Director Imogen Gibbon w/ Olympic medal holder Team GB Curler Rhona Howie whose team portrait is part of the National Galleries collection 🥌🥌🥌
June 24, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
Free tickets are available for an in-conversation event at the National Galleries of Scotland with Professor @fionaskillen.bsky.social and Olympic champion Rhona Howie MBE on June 24. 🥌
June 20, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
Also, a huge thanks the authors of ‘A most unsuitable game’ for their panel, which was the well deserved winner of our inclusivity prize, which celebrates inclusive & diverse histories of football. A huge thanks & congrats to @fionaskillen.bsky.social, Karen Fraser & @juliemcneillwrites.bsky.social
June 15, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
Our last post for today sees the end of #footycon25 with 2 winners being announced, with Gabrielas Rios-Infante winning our day 2 best paper prize & @fionaskillen.bsky.social, Karen Fraser and @juliemcneillwrites.bsky.social
winning our conference inclusivity prize, both sponsored by Routledge
June 14, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
A change of pace now as we have a panel with @fionaskillen.bsky.social, Karen Fraser & @juliemcneillwrites.bsky.social talking about their joint book ‘A most unsuitable game’, released last August and covering the history of women’s football in Scotland
June 14, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
Large and richly appreciated rays of sunshine for UK SHAPE (Arts, Humanities & Social Science disciplines) at a time when grim news in our sector has become normative.

Huge thanks to @wellcometrust.bsky.social for making this happen. 1/2
British Academy announces 5million investment from Wellcome to turbocharge support for early career researchers
The British Academy welcomes an investment of £5million from Wellcome, to launch a unique Leadership and Advancement SHAPE programme for researchers in the early stages of their careers. The funding s...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
June 4, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Women's Sport and Art panel with Olympic Gold Winner Rhona Howie, Imogen Gibbon Chief Curator of Portraiture and myself.

Where: The National Galleries of Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
When: Tuesday 24 June 2025, 12.45–1.30pm (in person & online)

www.nationalgalleries.org/event/women-...
Women in Sport | Rhona Howie (in person) | National Galleries of Scotland
Rhona Howie, skip of the Great Britain curling team that won gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and deliverer of the final stone − the ‘stone of destiny’ − that sealed that famous triu...
www.nationalgalleries.org
June 6, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
📢 PhD opportunity 📢

Join us as a researcher to uncover the hidden history of women in Scottish sport in the Victorian era and the early 20th century. ⚽

In collaboration with @stir.ac.uk, @natlibscot.bsky.social scot.bsky.social and @nationalgalleries.bsky.social.

👉 Apply now: bit.ly/4kp1Sij
May 20, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
Professor @fionaskillen.bsky.social will celebrate Scottish women's football at a special event at the @natlibscot.bsky.social on May 22. ⚽

👉 To sign up for the free event, visit Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebratin...
Celebrating Scottish women’s football
Join Fiona Skillen, Karen Fraser and Julie McNeil as they discuss their latest book, ‘A most unsuitable game’.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
May 9, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Can you help us (Karen Fraser, Andy Mitchell, myself & SFA) trace these women so we can help them be awarded caps for playing for Scotland?

More info in this article theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2025/05/trai...
Trailblazer initiative to honour international players who did not get official caps
The Scottish FA are launching a new ‘Trailblazers’ initiative to identify and honour women who represented Scotland at international level between 1972 and 1997 and did not receive an official cap for...
theedinburghreporter.co.uk
May 6, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
⚽Uncover the stories of women and girls who have played the beautiful game in Scotland for over a century with @fionaskillen.bsky.social Karen Fraser & Julie McNeil as they discuss their book, 'A most unsuitable game'

📍 @natlibscot.bsky.social
📅Thursday 22 May 2025 | 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM
🎫Free entry
Celebrating Scottish womens football
Join Fiona Skillen, Karen Fraser and Julie McNeil as they discuss their latest book, 'A most unsuitable game' for a talk at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh.
www.nls.uk
May 1, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
Sports were encouraged for officers for healthy competition, keeping fit and teamwork. #Archive30 #FunAndGames
April 20, 2025 at 7:52 AM
In an infringement of copyright & total disregard for my livelihood, many of my academic publications have been taken without my consent to train AI. I stand with the @Soc_of_Authors Action.
Pls sign & share this petition to protect authors' rights: www.change.org/p/protect-au...
Sign the Petition
Protect authors’ livelihoods from the unlicensed use of their work in AI training
www.change.org
April 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Fantastic to have @DrMailley in at @SocialscienceG to present on her research into the history of skating in Scotland and also the 1938 Empire Exhibition to students on my sport and leisure history module. Rich lectures which stimulated great questions from students.
April 1, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Great to have been at the @natlibscot.bsky.social last Thursday evening to hear @Imogen_Gibbon & Rachel Beattie talking about women’s sport in the collections of National Library of Scotland & National Galleries of Scotland. Fascinating insights and some great discussion.
April 1, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Prof Fiona Skillen
Great evening at @glasgowcaledonian.bsky.social with @fionaskillen.bsky.social talking women’s football, poetry and how art and research can be perfect partners!
March 20, 2025 at 9:03 PM
bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
It was during a Lionesses training camp that Bronze learned she had ADHD and autism. Bronze says that "a diagnosis is not going to change who you are, but understanding who you are is such a good thing".
Lucy Bronze: Having autism works to my advantage in football, says England and Chelsea player
Chelsea and England defender Lucy Bronze opens up for the first time about her autism and ADHD diagnoses to raise awareness and help others.
bbc.co.uk
March 19, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Great session this morning @GCUArchives for my Sport and Leisure History Module. We looked at archive items from the 1920s & 30s and students brought in items which represented their hobbies and discussed the similarities. Always a brilliant and enjoyable session.
March 12, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Fantastic event on Friday for IWD at Hearts FC as part of their 150th celebration. The Wikieditathon focused on women’s football - exploring history and learning new skills so volunteers could edit and add these important stories to Wikipedia. Loved sharing my research with this group.
March 10, 2025 at 9:09 PM